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THE   ESSENTIALS 
OF    ADVERTISING 


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THE  ESSENTIALS 

OF 

ADVEKTISING 


BY 
FRANK  LEROY  BLANCHARD 

DIRECTOR,   COURSE  IN    ADVERTISING,   23RD   8T.    Y.M.C.A.,   NEW   YORK, 
FORMERLY    MANAGINQ   EDITOR   OF   PRINTERS'   INK  AND 

EDITOR  OF  THE   EDITOR   AND   PUBLISHER 


FIRST  EDITION 
THIRD  IMPRESSION 


McGRAW-HILL  BOOK  COMPANY,  INC. 

NEW  YORK:    370  SEVENTH  AVENUE 

LONDON:    6  &  8  BOUVERIE  ST.,  E.  C.  4 

1921 


COPYRIGHT,  1921,  BY  THE 
McGKAW-HiLL  BOOK  COMPANY,  INC. 


THK     MAPI.K     FRKSS     T  O  R  K    PA 


PREFACE 

Advertising  is  such  a  big  subject  and  the  amount  of  material 
concerning  it  is  so  abundant  that  it  is  impossible  within  the  limits 
of  a  single  volume  to  present  more  than  a  small  part  of  what 
might  be  written  about  it.  In  the  preparation  of  a  text-book  all 
the  author  can  do  is  to  confine  his  attention  to  a  few  of  its  many 
phases  with  the  hope  that  the  student,  after  he  has  mastered 
the  principles  set  forth,  will  desire  to  continue  his  search  for 
advertising  knowledge  elsewhere. 

In  the  present  book  it  has  been  the  purpose  of  the  writer  to 
outline  and  discuss,  as  briefly  and  as  clearly  as  possible,  the  funda- 
mental principles  upon  which  modern  advertising  practice  is 
based,  the  preparation  of  copy,  the  special  advantages  of  the 
several  mediums  employed,  the  duties  of  the  more  important 
positions,  and  such  other  information  as  will  give  the  student  a 
comprehensive  view  of  the  subject. 

In  taking  up  the  study  of  advertising  it  is  important  that  the 
beginner  should  get  started  right  and  the  aim  of  this  volume  is 
to  help  him  get  such  a  start.  When  he  has  assimilated  its  con- 
tents he  can  then  proceed  through  actual  experience  in  the  field 
and  further  study  to  build  upon  the  foundation  he  has  thus  laid 
until  he  becomes  a  skilled  practitioner  of  the  art  of  advertising. 

A  discussion  of  the  more  advanced  problems  of  advertising  is 
purposely  omitted  as  such  problems  have  no  place  in  a  work  of 
this  kind.  Some  of  the  important  topics  taken  up  are  only 
briefly  touched  upon  for  lack  of  space.  Students  who  desire 
further  information  can  find  it  in  the  books  listed  in  the  last 
chapter. 

The  author  has  been  guided  in  the  selection  of  material  by  his 
experience  as  an  instructor  in  advertising  and  has  endeavored  to 
arrange  the  topics  in  such  a  manner  that  the  reader  is  led  from 
one  subject  to  another  in  logical  order,  so  that  when  he  has  com- 
pleted the  course  he  will  have  acquired  a  definite  amount  of 
correlated  information  that  will  be  of  great  service  to  him  in  his 
future  work. 


2223857 


vi  PREFACE 

Teachers  of  advertising  will  find  the  list  of  questions  at  the 
end  of  each  chapter  helpful  in  testing  the  student's  knowledge  of 
--the  subjects  discussed.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  encourage  the  study 
of  current  advertisements  appearing  in  the  magazines  and  local 
newspapers  and  show  how  they  illustrate  the  principles  set  forth 
in  these  pages.  After  the  fourth  lesson  the  students  should  take 
up  the  writing  of  advertisements,  beginning  with  a  help  wanted 
ad,  one  being  assigned  each  week  as  part  of  the  home  work,  the 
instructor  at  first  furnishing  the  material  upon  which  they  are  to 
be  based. 

The  author  desires  to  express  his  indebtedness  for  valuable 
assistance  rendered  him  by  Frank  Presbrey,  of  the  Frank  Pres- 
brey  Company,  Inc.;  O.  H.  Blackman,  president  of  the  Blackman 
Company;  Lewellyn  Pratt,  former  vice  president  of  the  Associated 
Advertising  Clubs  of  the  World;  Harold  J.  Mahin,  of  the  O.  J. 
Gude  Co.;  Louis  Wiley,  business  manager  of  the  New  York 
Times;  Roy  W.  Johnson,  of  Collin  Armstrong,  Inc.;  Joseph  H. 
Appel,  advertising  manager  of  John  Wanamaker;  George  H. 
Larke,  advertising  manager  of  the  New  York  World;  A.  W.  Erick- 
son,  president  of  the  Erickson  Company;  Harry  Levey,  of  the 
Harry  Levey  Service  Corporation;  C.  H.  Plummer,  of  the  New 
York  City  Car  Advertising  Co.;  W.  Livingston  Larned,  vice- 
president  of  the  Ethridge  Association  of  Artists;  W.  B.  Ruthrauff, 
of  Ruthrauff  &  Ryan;  Jesse  H.  Neal,  executive  secretary  of 
Associated  Business  Papers,  Inc. ;  Ralph  Starr  Butler,  advertising 
manager  of  the  United  States  Rubber  Company;  Benjamin 
Sherbow,  George  P.  Metzger,  of  Hanff  &  Metzger;  H.  J.  Kenner, 
executive  secretary  of  the  National  Vigilance  Committee  of  the 
A.  A.  C.  W.;  Robert  E.  Ramsay,  advertising  manager  of  the 
American  Writing  Paper  Company,  E.  H.  Schulze,  of  the  Making  it 
Pay  Corporation  and  Harry  Varley  of  the  George  Batten  Company. 

Credit  is  also  due  to  Printers'  Ink  for  helpful  material. 

F.  L.  B. 


CONTENTS 


PREFACE    v 

CHAPTER  PAQH 

I.  ADVERTISING — WHAT  IT  Is  AND  WHAT  IT  DOES 1 

II.  WHAT  You  OUGHT  TO  KNOW  BEFORE  You  WRITE  AN  ADVER- 
TISEMENT   8 

III.  How  TO  LAY  Our  AN  ADVERTISEMENT 13 

IV.  ADVERTISEMENT  CONSTRUCTION 22 

V.  ON  THE  USE  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 36 

VI.  PUTTING  THE  ADVERTISEMENT  INTO  TYPE 55 

VII.  ADVANTAGES  OF  COLOR  IN  ADVERTISING 77 

VIII.  PLANNING  A  NATIONAL  CAMPAIGN 90 

IX.  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ADVERTISER 100 

X.  RETAIL  ADVERTISING 116 

XI.  WHY  ADVERTISE  IN  THE  NEWSPAPERS 132 

XII.  MAGAZINES  AS  ADVERTISING  MEDIUMS 144 

XIII.  THE  ADVERTISING  VALUE  OF  TRADE  AND  CLASS  PAPERS   .    .  156 

XIV.  ADVANTAGES  OF  OUTDOOR  ADVERTISING 165 

XV.  THE  APPEAL  OF  STREET  CAR  ADVERTISING 178 

XVI.  DIRECT  AND  MAIL  ORDER  ADVERTISING 187 

XVII.  BUSINESS-GETTING  LETTERS 195 

XVIII.  SUGGESTIONS  ON  CATALOGUE  MAKING 208 

XIX.  THE  MISSION  OF  THE  BOOKLET 218 

XX.  USEFULNESS  OF  HOUSE  ORGANS 225 

XXI.  ADVERTISING  SPECIALTIES 233 

XXII.  MOTION  PICTURE  ADVERTISING 241 

XXIII.  DUTIES  OF  THE  ADVERTISING  MANAGER 249 

XXIV.  WHAT  THE  ADVERTISING  AGENT  DOES  FOR  THE  NATIONAL 

ADVERTISER 259 

XXV.  THE  ADVERTISING  SALESMAN 272 

XXVI.  How  TRADE-MARKS  HELP  THE  ADVERTISER 286 

XXVII.  THE  ECONOMICS  OF  ADVERTISING 298 

XXVIII.  ON  CORRECTING  PROOFS 305 

XXIX.  BOOKS  ON  ADVERTISING  AND  SALESMANSHIP 313 

INDEX.  .  317 


Vll 


THE 

ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

CHAPTER  I 
ADVERTISING— WHAT  IT  IS  AND  WHAT  IT  DOES 

Anything  employed  to  influence  people  favorably  is  advertising. 
It  may  be  the  spoken  word,  as,  for  instance,  the  argument  a  clerk 
uses  in  selling  a  customer  a  pair  of  shoes;  or  the  campaign  speech 
delivered  by  a  politician  in  behalf  of  a  candidate  for  office. 

It  may  be  something  done,  as,  for  example,  the  driving  of  an 
automobile  at  record-breaking  speed  across  the  continent  to 
demonstrate  its  dependability  and  gasoline  efficiency;  or  the 
making  of  cigarettes  or  cigars  in  a  show  window  to  attract 
attention  to  the  methods  of  manufacture  or  the  quality  of  the 
tobacco  employed. 

It  may  be  the  written  or  printed  word,  as  a  sales  letter,  a  catalog, 
or  the  newspaper  display  announcement  of  a  merchant  who 
seeks  to  draw  customers  to  his  store. 

This  definition  is  a  broad  one  and  may  include  things  that  are 
not  always  purposely  used  for  advertising  ends,  but  it  is  only  a 
broad  definition  that  will  cover  all  the  mediums  through  which 
advertising  finds  expression. 

Advertising  as  a  means  for  marketing  merchandise  is  not  a 
modern  art  as  it  has  been  used  for  that  purpose  since  the  early 
days  of  civilization.  In  the  British  Museum  may  be  seen  a 
sheet  of  papyrus  found  in  the  ruins  of  Ancient  Thebes,  in  Egypt, 
upon  which  appears  the  oldest  advertisement  yet  discovered, 
offering  a  reward  for  a  runaway  slave.  It  was  written  3,000  years 
before  the  Christian  Era  began.  In  the  time  of  the  Caesars 
the  merchants  of  Rome,  then  mistress  of  the  world,  called 

1 


2  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

attention  to  their  wares  through  inscriptions  upon  the  walls  of 
buildings,  or  by  means  of  placards  written  by  slaves  and  displayed 
upon  bulletin  boards  erected  for  the  purpose  throughout  the  city. 
The  gladiatorial  contests,  chariot  races  and  sports  of  the  arena 
were  advertised  in  this  way.  How  suggestive  of  a  modern  poster 
is  the  statement  made  in  a  gladiatorial  announcement  which  says : 

"The  gladiatorial  troup  of  A.  Suetius  Certus,  the  Aedile,  will  fight  at 
Pompeii,  on  May  31.  There  will  be  a  hunt  and  awnings." 

Wild  beast  hunts  were  frequently  given  as  an  additional  attrac- 
tion to  the  regular  games,  while  the  awnings  which  covered  the 
amphitheatre,  usually  open  to  the  sun,  were  in  great  favor  with 
the  public.  For  rent  signs  were  in  common  use.  Here  is  one: 

"For  rent  from  July  1st,  next,  in  the  Arrio-Pollian  block,  belonging 
to  Cn.  Alleius  Nigidus  Maius,  shops  with  rooms  above,  second  story 
apartments  fit  for  a  king,  and  a  house.  Apply  to  Primus,  slave  of 
Maius." 

It  was  not,  however,  until  the  printing  press  and  movable  type 
were  invented  in  the  Fifteenth  Century  that  advertising,  as  we 
know  it  to-day,  became  possible.  The  earliest  type-printed 
medium  employed  for  advertising  purposes  was  the  newspaper. 
Just  when  the  first  one  made  its  appearance  has  not  been  def- 
initely determined,  but  for  a  long  time  the  Frankfurter  Journal 
which  Serlin  launched  in  1615,  was  supposed  to  be  the  earliest. 

But  in  1876,  Dr.  Julius  Otto  Opel  found  in  the  library  of 
Heidelberg  University,  Germany,  copies  of  a  newspaper  edited 
by  Johann  Carolus  and  published  in  Strasburg  in  1609.  The  first 
newspaper  printed  in  English  was  the  Weekly  Newes,  established 
in  London  in  1622  by  Nathaniel  Butter.  During  the  same  year 
the  first  newspaper  advertisement,  which,  by  the  way,  exploited 
a  new  book,  made  its  appearance  in  its  columns. 

The  first  newspaper  advertisement  in  the  United  States 
appeared  in  the  initial  number  of  the  Boston  News  Letter,  which 
was  launched  April  26,  1704,  and  was  the  earliest  newspaper  to 
be  regularly  issued  in  the  Colonies.  It  was  written  by  John 
Campbell,  the  editor,  who  was  then  postmaster  of  Boston,  and 
called  attention  of  the  public  to  the  News  Letter  as  an  advertising 
medium. 


ADVERTISING— WHAT  IT  IS  AND  WHAT  IT  DOES          3 

For  many  years  the  newspapers  printed  few  advertisements, 
their  publishers  depending  entirely  upon  subscriptions  for  their 
income.  To-day's  newspapers  are  crowded  with  them,  forty-five 
dailies  printing  over  1,000,000  lines  of  advertising  annually. 

The  literary  magazines,  like  Harper's,  did  not  admit  advertise- 
ments to  their  pages  until  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  The 
publishers  considered  it  beneath  their  dignity,  and  it  was  only 
when  the  cost  of  getting  out  these  periodicals  was  forced,  through 
competition,  to  such  a  high  figure  that  little  profit  could  be 
realized  from  subscriptions,  that  they  finally  yielded  to  the  pres- 
sure brought  to  bear  upon  them  by  advertisers.  To-day  the 
magazines  derive  their  principal  revenues  from  advertising. 

Other  mediums  of  national  circulation  include  trade,  technical, 
class  and  professional  periodicals  and  house  organs.  In  direct 
or  mail  order  advertising  the  mediums  employed  are  letters, 
booklets,  catalogs,  circulars,  calendars,  folders  and  display  cards. 
Indoor  advertising  makes  use  of  moving  pictures,  car  cards, 
theatrical  programs,  window  and  counter  displays,  hangers, 
strips,  cutouts,  mechanical  devices  and  demonstrations.  Out- 
door advertising  finds  expression  in  electric  displays,  posters, 
painted  bulletins  and  metal  signs. 

Another  class  of  mediums  that  is  regarded  with  favor  by 
manufacturers  having  a  national  distribution,  and  by  many  retail 
merchants,  is  advertising  specialties  or  novelties.  Some  of  the 
more  popular  articles  listed  under  this  head  are  watch  fobs, 
pocket  knives,  letter  openers,  desk  rulers,  paper  weights,  ink 
stands,  diaries,  thermometers,  cigar  lighters,  pocket  match 
boxes,  pencils,  pocket  memorandum  pads,  pocket  books,  watch 
charms  and  paper  cutters. 

While  the  above  lists  do  not  include  all  of  the  media  employed 
by  advertisers  they  embrace  a  majority  of  those  that  have  been 
found  most  serviceable  in  selling  merchandise. 

Although  advertising  has  now  become  a  powerful  merchandise 
distributing  force,  its  value  was  not  fully  appreciated  until  within 
a  comparatively  recent  period.  Even  to-day  merchants  may  be 
found  who  are  blind  to  the  service  it  can  render  them  in  market- 
ing their  goods.  For  generations  advertising  was  like  a  sleeping 
giant  whose  strength  was  not  known  or  appreciated  until  the 


4  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

click  of  type  and  the  roar  of  the  printing  press  aroused  it  to  action. 
At  first  its  development  was  slow.  Merchants  were  afraid  to 
break  away  from  the  ancient  method  of  barter  and  sale. 

Moreover,  advertising  was  regarded  as  an  experiment.  Its 
worth  had  not  been  definitely  established,  although  there  were 
some  business  men  who  had  faith  in  it  and  who  would  spend 
their  money  on  it.  But  in  spite  of  prejudice,  indifference  and 
opposition,  advertising  increased  in  popularity  and  effectiveness 
until  it  is  now  regarded  as  an  indispensable  force  in  the  creation 
and  development  of  business. 

What  has  advertising  done?  It  has  made  the  world  a  better 
place  to  live  in  by  constantly  suggesting  public  improvements 
and  urging  the  adoption  of  hygienic  methods  in  the  homes 
of  the  people.  It  has  created  great  industries,  constructed 
railroads,  built  towns  and  cities  and  opened  up  to  settlement  vast 
areas  of  agricultural  land.  It  has  lightened  the  burdens  of  man- 
kind by  introducing  labor-saving  devices;  it  has  reduced  the 
dangers  of  traveling  by  rail  by  bringing  into  use  signal  systems 
that  prevent  collisions  between  trains  and  permit  their  operation 
at  high  speed.  It  has  taught  people  how  to  be  healthy  through 
the  consumption  of  pure  foods  and  the  wearing  of  the  proper 
kind  of  clothing.  It  has  brought  riches  to  the  poor,  given 
budding  genius  a  hearing,  and  shown  the  public  how  to  enjoy 
itself. 

It  has  marketed  billions  of  dollars'  worth  of  government  bonds 
to  finance  great  wars,  and  has  called  to  the  colors  millions  of 
America's  sons  to  fight  for  home  and  country.  It  has  warned  the 
nation  of  threatening  dangers  and  aroused  its  citizens  to  action. 
It  has  stabilized  business,  found  markets  for  home-made  products 
in  foreign  lands  and  stimulated  domestic  trade.  It  has  opened 
up  a  whole  world  of  opportunity  to  ambitious  young  men  in 
search  of  name  and  fortune. 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  ways  in  which  advertising  has 
aided  mankind,  but  they  are  sufficient  to  indicate  the  wide 
variety  and  the  great  importance  of  the  services  it  renders. 

Let  us  now  be  more  specific  and  from  the  records  of  actual 
achievements  cite  instances  that  show  what  may  be  accomplished 
by  advertising.  When  the  Oneida  Community,  manufacturers 


ADVERTISING— WHAT  IT  IS  AND  WHAT  IT  DOES          5 

of  silverware,  began  to  advertise  in  a  modest  way  in  1904,  its 
annual  sales  were  $500,000.  Twelve  years  later  the  annual  sales 
amounted  to  $4,000,000,  a  result  brought  about  through 
advertising. 

The  Postal  Life  Insurance  Company,  organized  under  the  laws 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  has  depended  upon  advertising  for 
its  business  from  the  day  it  was  started.  In  1905  the  Company 
issued  205  policies,  aggregating  $347,000  of  insurance,  and  spent 
$862.58  for  advertising.  Three  years  later  1,126  policies  were 
issued,  which  was  an  increase  of  almost  500  per  cent,  and  repre- 
sented $1,976,522  of  insurance,  at  an  advertising  cost  of  $5,900. 
In  1914  insurance  to  the  amount  of  $2,577,720  was  written  on 
1,560  policies,  the  advertising  investment  being  $39,616.13. 
The  number  of  policy  holders  in  1918  was  25,000  and  the 
appropriation  for  advertising  about  $40,000,  or  $1.60  for  each 
policy-holder. 

As  the  company  is  limited  by  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York 
in  its  advertising  expenditures,  as  a  part  of  the  operating  costs, 
to  a  certain  percentage  of  the  total  annual  premiums  received,  it 
follows  that  even  though  a  far  greater  amount  of  business  might 
be  developed  through  a  larger  advertising  investment,  it  is  pro- 
hibited from  pursuing  such  a  course.  Between  twelve  and  fifteen 
per  cent,  of  those  who  answer  Postal  Life  ads  become  policy- 
holders — a  notable  record.  A  single  advertisement  in  Leslie's 
Weekly,  costing  $210.60  gross,  brought  185  replies  and  $33,000 
worth  of  business. 

At  an  annual  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of  the  English  cor- 
poration of  A.  F.  Pears,  manufacturer  of  Pears'  Soap,  it  was 
announced  that  since  the  Company  was  founded  it  had  invested 
$15,000,000  in  advertising.  According  to  the  chairman  this 
expenditure  has  made  the  name  of  Pears  a  household  word  in  all 
the  world.  The  business  was  started  on  a  capital  of  $35,000. 

The  Ford  Motor  Company,  of  Detroit,  Michigan,  on  one 
occasion  sold  338,771  automobiles  through  the  use  of  360  lines 
of  advertising  in  142  newspapers,  published  in  51  large  cities,  at 
a  cost  of  less  than  $6,000. 

The  American  Druggists'  Syndicate,  which  has  12,000  mem- 
bers, by  spending  $500,000  in  advertising  its  preparations  in 


6 

the  cities  in  which  its  members  are  located,  did  a  business  of 
$3,000,000,  at  a  net  profit  of  $192,000. 

The  best-known  phonograph  in  the  United  States  and  the 
one  having  the  largest  sale  is  the  Victor  Talking  Machine.  Since 
its  incorporation  in  1901  it  has  been  a  constant  and  liberal 
advertiser.  During  the  five  years  ending  in  1918  its  annual 
publicity  investment  did  not  fall  below  $1,500,000.  One  year 
it  exceeded  $3,000,000. 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  instances  that  might  be  cited 
to  show  what  has  been  accomplished  through  advertising.  For 
every  concern  that  has  developed  sales  of  a  million  or  more  dollars 
a  year  there  are  thousands  that  do  a  business  of  from  one  hundred 
thousand  to  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  stories  that 
might  be  told  concerning  the  career  of;  some  of  these  firms  would 
read  more  like  pages  from  a  romance  than  from  matter-of-fact 
business  records. 

To  business  men  who  are  familiar  with  modern  selling  methods 
the  refusal  of  Congress  during  the  great  war  to  appropriate 
money  to  advertise  the  billions  of  dollars  worth  of  Liberty  Bonds 
it  had  to  sell  was,  and  still  is,  inexplicable.  While  it  was  willing 
to  give  manufacturers  almost  any  price  they  might  ask  for  muni- 
tions and  other  war  supplies,  it  would  not  pay  a  cent  to  newspaper 
and  magazine  publishers  for  advertising.  If  the  business  men  of 
the  country  had  not  voluntarily  and  patriotically  come  to  the 
government's  aid  by  planning,  and  paying  for  out  of  their  own 
pockets  the  greatest  advertising  campaigns  ever  known  to  popul- 
arize the  loans,  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  one  of  the  bond  issues 
would  have  been  a  success.  No  better  illustration  of  the  tre- 
mendous influence  of  advertising  upon  the  masses  can  be  found 
in  the  annals  of  business.  In  a  little  over  a  year,  $20,000,000,000 
worth  of  these  bonds  were  sold. 

What  is  the  secret  of  the  marvelous  influence  of  advertising? 
Is  it  something  that  only  the  elect  can  understand?  As  a  matter 
of  fact  there  is  nothing  mysterious  about  it.  The  principles 
governing  it  are  simple  and  easily  comprehended  by  anyone  who 
has  had  a  common  school  education.  Advertising  is  the  medium 
through  which  one  mind  seeks  to  influence  another.  It  is  an 
intensive  form  of  salesmanship.  It  seeks  by  the  use  of  display 


ADVERTISING— WHAT  IT  IS  AND  WHAT  IT  DOES  7 

type  and  pictures  to  impress  upon  people's  minds  a  message — 
usually  concerning  merchandise — that  may  be  of  benefit  to 
those  to  whom  it  is  addressed. 

Sometimes  the  advertisement  contains  no  sales  argument,  its 
purpose  being  wholly  educational.  Perhaps  it  tells  of  the  char- 
acter and  standing  of  the  firm  or  company  manufacturing  a  prod- 
uct, or  presents  interesting  data  concerning  the  plant,  the  sources 
of  the  raw  material  it  employs,  or  enumerates  the  special  advan- 
tages of  its  location  and  transportation  facilities.  Or  it  may 
be  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  good  will  during  periods  of 
business  depression,  or  when,  through  extraordinary  circum- 
stances, deliveries  of  products  cannot  be  made  to  regular 
customers. 

The  mission  of  advertising  is  to  persuade  men  and  women  to 
act  in  a  way  that  will  be  of  advantage  to  the  advertiser.  The 
more  convincingly  the  message  is  set  forth,  whatever  medium  is 
employed,  the  greater  will  be  its  effect  upon  those  who  read  it. 
To  be  successful  in  advertising  a  person  must  understand  the 
human  mind — how  it  responds  to  the  different  kinds  of  appeal. 
As  all  people  do  not  think  or  act  alike,  some  reacting  to  one  kind 
of  stimuli  and  others  to  those  of  an  entirely  different  character, 
the  advertiser  must  have  at  his  command  a  varied  assortment 
of  appeals  which  he  can  adapt  to  the  particular  audience  he 
wishes  to  address. 

Questions 

1.  Define  advertising. 

2.  What  are  its  three  forms  of  expression? 

3.  What  was  the  first  advertisement  of  which  we  have  knowledge  and 
when  did  it  appear  ? 

4.  Give  the  name  and  date  of  the  first  newspaper  printed  in  English. 
6.  What  are  the  principal  mediums  employed  in  modern  advertising? 

6.  Enumerate  some  of  the  services  advertising  has  rendered  mankind. 

7.  Give  an  example  of  the  successful  use  of  advertising  in  building  up 
business. 

8.  How  did  the  merchants  advertise  in  the  days  of  the  Caesars? 

9.  When  was  the  first  newspaper  advertisement  in  America  printed? 
10.  What  is  the  mission  of  advertising? 


CHAPTER  II 


"Out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh"  is 
an  old  proverb  that  applies  with  special  force  to  the  preparation 
of  advertising  matter.  You  cannot  write  intelligently  and  with 
an  authority  that  will  carry  conviction  to  the  reader  until  you 
know,  in  an  intimate  manner,  the  article  you  are  to  describe. 
The  mere  f  acility  of  grouping  words  together  in  such  a  way  that 
they  read  well  and  sound  pleasing  will  prove  of  little  value  in 
selling  goods  through  the  printed  word.  If  to  the  facility  of  ex- 
pression, however,  there  is  added  the  ability  to  study  and  analyze 
manufactured  products,  the  advertisement  writer  is  in  a  position 
to  do  effective  work. 

To  write  an  advertisement  that  will  influence  people  to  buy 
what  you  have  to  sell  is  not  as  easy  as  it  looks  to  those  who  have 
had  no  experience  in  the  preparation  of  copy.  Arthur  Brisbane, 
of  the  Hearst  newspapers,  the  highest  paid  editorial  writer  in  the 
world,  once  said  that  advertisement  writing  was  the  hardest 
work  he  had  ever  attempted.  Several  years  ago,  Thomas  A. 
Edison  agreed  to  pay  him  $1,000  apiece  for  five  single  page  ads. 
The  great  editor  was  willing  to  do  the  work  and  actually  began 
to  write  one  of  the  advertisements  but  after  making  several  vain 
attempts  to  turn  out  something  satisfactory  he  quit  the  job  with- 
out having  completed  a  single  advertisement.  He  afterward 
said  that  whenever  he  thought  of  again  undertaking  the  task  the 
cold  shivers  chased  up  and  down  his  back.  Perhaps  the  real 
reason  why  he  failed  was  because  he  did  not  take  the  time  to 
acquire  the  information  he  should  have  had  before  he  began  to 
write. 

All  advertising  may  be  broadly  classified  under  two  heads — 
general  and  local.  General  advertising  is  the  term  applied  to 

8 


WHAT  YOU  OUGHT  TO  KNOW  9 

printed  matter  employed  to  create  a  demand  for  a  product  that  is 
nationally  distributed.  Local  advertising,  as  the  term  implies,  is 
the  advertising  used  by  the  merchants  of  a  city  or  town  to  bring 
people  to  their  stores  to  buy  the  goods  they  have  to  sell. 

Before  attempting  to  write  an  advertisement  the  object  of 
which  is  to  sell  an  article  nationally  you  should  have  at  your 
command  a  store  of  information  not  only  about  the  article  you 
are  to  exploit,  but  about  the  market  and  the  methods  employed 
in  securing  its  distribution.  A  physician  cannot  intelligently 
prescribe  for  a  patient  until  he  has  first  made  a  thorough  diagnosis 
of  his  physical  and  mental  condition,  and  has  inquired  about  his 
habits  and  his  personal  history.  No  lawyer  of  standing  would 
consent  to  represent  a  client  in  one  of  the  higher  courts  before  he 
had  acquainted  himself  with  all  the  facts  relating  to  the  case  and 
had  looked  up  the  judicial  rulings  and  decisions  in  similar  causes 
of  action. 

The  advertisement  writer  likewise  should  not  put  pencil  to 
paper  until  he  has  collected  and  digested  every  scrap  of  informa- 
tion concerning  the  article  he  is  to  write  about  that  will  be  of 
assistance  to  him  in  his  work.  Neglect  to  do  this  is  almost 
certain  to  result  in  the  production  of  copy  that  is  inefficient  if 
not  valueless.  Many  a  campaign  has  failed  because  the  adver- 
tising dealt  with  generalities  rather  than  with  facts. 

The  Product. — What  should  you  know  about  the  product? 
Having  satisfied  yourself  that  it  is  an  article  of  merit  and  that  a 
profitable  demand  can  be  created  for  it  through  advertising, 
information  should  be  sought  along  the  lines  suggested  by  the 
following  questions:  How  does  it  compare  with  the  products  of 
other  manufacturers  in  quality,  price,  and  appearance?  If  it 
is  not  of  equal  or  superior  merit,  if  it  is  not  as  attractive  in 
looks,  or  if  it  cannot  be  sold  at  a  lower  price,  it  is  usually  con- 
sidered a  waste  of  money  to  advertise  it  nationally  in  competition 
with  goods  that  are  already  established  in  public  favor  through 
this  form  of  salesmanship.  A  large  investment  in  advertising 
may  develop  a  temporary  demand,  but  after  it  has  been 
tried  out  through  use,  and  people  have  had  a  chance  to  compare 
it  with  other  brands  that  have  given  satisfaction  they  will  stop 
buying  it,  although  it  is  sometimes  sold  at  a  lower  price. 


10  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Is  it  an  article  of  general  consumption  or  does  it  appeal  only 
to  a  limited  class?  What  are  its  special  advantages  or  selling 
points  that  will  make  people  want  to  buy  it?  How  is  it  manu- 
factured and  of  what  materials?  Can  it  be  produced  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  fill  orders  that  may  result  from  the  advertising? 
If  sold  in  containers  is  it  attractively  packed? 

The  Market. — Having  made  a  careful  and  thorough  study  of 
the  article  itself  the  next  thing  to  do  is  to  critically  analyze  the 
market  in  which  it  is  to  be  sold.  Preliminary  to  the  preparation 
of  copy  for  advertising  campaigns  involving  a  heavy  investment 
it  is  customary  for  the  advertising  agency  handling  the  accounts 
to  send  out  several  skilled  investigators  to  interview  jobbers, 
retailers  and  consumers  as  to  their  attitude  toward  the  product, 
if  it  is  already  on  sale,  and  to  get  a  line  upon  the  extent  of  the 
demand  that  may  be  developed  through  aggressive  publicity. 

If  it  is  a  new  article  the  aim  of  the  investigators  is  to  ascertain 
whether  such  a  product  is  likely  to  appeal  to  the  trade.  If 
it  possesses  real  merit,  and  can  be  sold  at  a  price  that  will  yield  a 
fair  profit  to  those  who  handle  it,  the  chances  are  that  when  it  is 
actually  placed  on  the  market  a  satisfactory  volume  of  sales 
can  be  developed.  These  investigations  are  worth  all  they  cost 
because  they  furnish  the  manufacturer  information  that  may 
save  him  a  large  amount  of  money  in  planning  his  selling  cam- 
paigns. In  the  hands  of  the  copy-writer  the  data  is  made  the 
basis  of  some  of  the  strongest  kind  of  advertising  appeals. 
Knowing  the  market  hi  this  intimate  way  he  can  take  advantage 
of  the  suggestions  that  come  to  him  fresh  from  the  field  and  obtain 
results  that  would  otherwise  be  impossible. 

But  whether  or  not  the  copy- writer  has  the  aid  of  field  investi- 
gators he  should  know  these  things  about  the  market:  Can  a 
permanent  demand  be  created  for  the  article  or  is  it  a  novelty  that 
will  last  for  a  few  months  only?  Does  it  have  a  general  or  a 
sectional  appeal?  What  classes  of  people  will  buy  it,  and  how,  in 
view  of  their  character,  education  and  habits,  can  they  best  be 
approached?  What  kind  of  copy  should  be  employed?  Should 
its  immediate  object  be  educational,  to  establish  good  will,  or 
to  sell  merchandise?  What  mediums  are  best  adapted  to  the 
purposes  of  the  campaign? 


WHAT  YOU  OUGHT  TO  KNOW  11 

Distribution. — The  advertisement  writer  should  have  a  clear 
conception  of  the  methods  of  distribution  used  by  the  manu- 
facturer whose  product  he  is  to  exploit.  This  may  be  obtained 
by  making  inquiries  along  the  lines  suggested  by  these  questions : 
How  is  the  article  sold — through  jobbers  and  retailers,  or  direct 
to  the  consumers?  Is  the  distribution  nation-wide  or  is  it 
confined  to  certain  well-defined  sections  of  the  country?  What 
kinds  of  stores  handle  the  article?  Have  demonstrators  been 
employed  in  department  or  other  retail  establishments,  and  if 
so,  with  what  success?  Are  samples  distributed  by  sample  crews, 
are  they  given  out  by  merchants,  or  are  they  sent  from  head- 
quarters upon  requests  received  in  response  to  advertising? 
Does  the  firm  have  the  cooperation  of  the  trade?  What  assist- 
ance does  the  manufacturer  give  the  retailer  in  the  local  field  in 
moving  the  product  from  his  shelves?  Are  window  trims,  cut- 
outs, hangers,  newspaper  advertisements  or  cuts  supplied? 

While  the  copy-writer  when  he  starts  in  to  prepare  an  adver- 
tisement does  not  always  have  in  his  possession  all  the  informa- 
tion indicated  by  the  preceding  questions,  the  more  facts  he  has 
at  hand  the  better  able  he  will  be  to  construct  advertisements 
that  will  bring  big  results. 

In  preparing  retail  advertising  copy,  less  preliminary  investiga- 
tion is  required  than  for  national  copy.  The  merchant,  or  his 
advertising  manager  who  does  the  work,  must  know  the  im- 
portant facts  about  the  different  lines  of  goods  carried  in  stock 
and  must  understand  the  public  from  which  his  patronage  is 
drawn.  Many  retailers  fail  to  score  the  success  they  might 
because  they  do  not  study  sufficiently  the  people  with  whom  they 
seek  to  do  business.  If  they  knew  them  as  well  as  they  should 
they  would  make  fewer  mistakes  in  buying  goods  and  would 
know  better  how  to  influence  them  through  their  advertising. 

The  following  questions  suggest  the  kind  of  information  that 
will  be  helpful  in  the  preparation  of  advertising  copy  for  the 
local  field :  What  are  the  attractive  features  of  the  store  and  the 
advantages  of  its  location?  What  class  of  goods  is  carried — cheap, 
medium  priced  or  the  highest  grade?  The  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion is  highly  important  as  upon  it  depends  in  a  large  measure 
the  character  of  the  advertising  copy.  Are  the  sales  mostly 


12  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

for  cash  or  do  charge  accounts  predominate?  What  is  the 
character  of  the  store  service?  Have  the  clerks  a  reputation  for 
courtesy  and  attentiveness  to  customers?  Does  the  store  have  a 
satisfactory  delivery  system?  Is  the  "return  goods"  privilege 
granted  to  customers?  Does  it  handle  nationally  advertised 
goods  and  to  what  extent?  Does  it  hold  special  sales?  Does  it 
make  a  bid  for  suburban  or  rural  trade?  What  is  the  reputation 
of  the  store  or  its  owner  for  fair  dealing,  for  enterprise  and  for 
public  spirit?  What  has  been  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
advertising  that  has  been  done  in  the  past?  What  has  been  the 
amount  of  the  advertising  expenditure  for  the  last  two  years? 
Has  the  firm  a  fixed  advertising  policy? 

You  will  no  doubt  conclude  after  reading  the  foregoing  ques- 
tions that  advertisement  writing  is  not  quite  as  easy  and  simple 
a  task  as  you  had  supposed.  A  lazy  man  will  never  be  a  pro- 
ducer of  successful  copy.  The  man  who  will  make  his  mark  in 
this  field  is  he  who  is  never  satisfied  with  a  superficial  knowledge 
of  the  subject  he  is  to  write  about,  and  who  can  put  into  simple 
but  forceful  language  arguments  or  statements  that  will  interest 
the  public  and  produce  a  renumerative  volume  of  sales. 

Questions 

1.  What  are  the  three  things  that  are  of  special  value  to  a  copy-writer? 

2.  Under  what  two  heads  may  all  advertising  be  classified?     Define  each. 

3.  What  should  the  copy-writer  know  about  the  product  before  he 
begins  to  write  an  advertisement? 

4.  About  the  market? 

5.  About  distribution? 

6.  Enumerate  the  kinds  of  information  that  will  help  in  the  preparation 
of  retail  advertising. 


CHAPTER  III 
HOW  TO  LAY  OUT  AN  ADVERTISEMENT 

Just  as  an  architect  draws  the  plan  of  a  building  before  the 
actual  work  of  construction  is  begun,  so  the  writer  should  make 
a  diagram,  or,  as  it  is  technically  called,  a  layout,  of  the  advertise- 
ment he  is  to  prepare.  The  direct  purposes  of  the  layout  are, 
first,  to  visualize  the  writer's  ideas,  that  is,  to  show  roughly  how 
the  advertisement  will  look  when  put  into  type;  and,  second, 
to  give  the  printer  the  necessary  instructions  for  its  typographical 
reproduction.  From  an  economical  standpoint  the  layout  saves 
both  time  and  money.  If  the  O.K.  of  the  advertiser  must  be 
obtained  before  the  copy  is  sent  to  the  publishers  the  writer  can, 
by  submitting  a  layout  upon  which  the  illustration  is  roughly 
sketched,  and  the  general  appearance  of  the  advertisement  is 
indicated,  give  him  a  clear  idea  as  to  how  it  is  going  to  look.  If 
the  client  turns  it  down,  then  only  the  brief  time  spent  in  sketch- 
ing the  layout  is  lost,  because  no  work  has  been  done  on  it  by  the 
printer,  or  the  engraver. 

In  the  layout  is  presented  a  diagram  indicating  the  exact 
size  of  the  ad,  the  headline  and  other  important  display  lines; 
the  position  and  size  of  the  illustrations;  the  location  of  the  text 
matter  and,  usually,  the  name  of  the  advertiser;  the  size  and 
kind  of  type  in  which  the  advertisement  is  to  be  set,  the  character 
of  the  border  with  which  it  is  to  be  enclosed,  and  the  arrangement 
of  the  white  space. 

The  text  matter  is  not  written  on  the  layout  but  on  a  separate 
sheet  of  paper  known  as  the  "copy"  sheet.  Where  the  several 
paragraphs  are  to  be  placed  in  the  advertisement  is  indicated  by 
letters  or  figures  which  correspond  to  similar  letters  or  figures 
marked  on  the  layout. 

The  Size. — In  preparing  the  layout  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to 
decide  upon  the  size  of  the  advertisement.  This  depends  upon 

13 


14  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

a  number  of  things — the  nature  of  the  article  or  business  to  be 
exploited,  the  territory  to  be  covered,  the  mediums  to  be  em- 
ployed, the  class  of  people  to  be  influenced,  the  character  of  the 
appeal  and  the  amount  of  money  available  for  the  campaign. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  more  space  is  needed  to  adequately 
advertise  an  automobile,  a  house  or  a  dry-goods  store  than  would 
be  required  to  advertise  a  lead  pencil,  a  can  opener,  or  men's 
collars.  Some  things  from  their  very  nature  call  for  the  use  of 
full  pages  in  the  magazines  or  quarter  pages  in  the  newspapers. 
There  is,  however,  no  hard  and  fast  rule  to  follow.  For  instance, 
Wrigley's  Chewing  Gum,  which  sells  for  one  cent  a  stick,  has  been 
advertised  in  full  pages  in  expensive  magazines  and  newspapers. 
It  seems  like  throwing  money  away  to  pay  $6,000  for  a  page  ad 
in  a  single  medium  to  exploit  an  article  that  retails  for  such  a 
small  amount  as  a  penny.  And  yet  figures  published  by  the 
Wrigley  Company  show  that  such  advertising  has  been  a  profit- 
able investment.  Although  the  profit  made  on  a  single  stick 
of  gum  is  small,  when  hundreds  of  millions  of  pieces  are  marketed 
it  mounts  rapidly  to  high  figures.  It  is  a  singular  thing  that  in 
advertising  diamonds,  the  most  popular  and  one  of  the  costliest 
of  the  precious  stones,  small  space  is  usually  employed. 

Retail  stores  are  accustomed  to  make  yearly  contracts  with 
newspapers  for  a  definite  amount  of  space.  Sometimes  the 
advertiser  agrees  to  use  a  certain  number  of  lines  every  day  or 
week,  while  in  other  cases  he  is  allowed  to  vary  the  size  of  the 
advertisement  according  to  the  season  or  the  needs  of  his  business. 
The  general  advertiser  knows  the  exact  dimensions  of  every 
advertisement  he  is  going  to  use  in  a  large  number  of  mediums 
in  a  campaign  covering,  perhaps,  an  entire  year,  and  how  much 
it  is  going  to  cost.  There  is  no  guess  work  about  it  for  he  has 
been  furnished  the  exact  figures  by  his  agent.  A  small  manu- 
facturer with  limited  capital  should  not  indulge,  except  on  rare 
occasions,  in  big  advertisements.  An  eighth  or  quarter  page 
in  a  standard  size  magazine,  or  a  four  or  five  inch  single  column 
ad  in  a  daily  newspaper  is  about  all  he  can  afford  at  the  start. 

The  more  intellectual  the  community  he  seeks  to  influence,  the 
less  the  need  of  elaborate  descriptions  of  articles  offered  for  sale. 
Busy  people,  those  who  have  only  a  limited  amount  of  time  to 


HOW  TO  LAY  OUT  AN  ADVERTISEMENT  15 

devote  to  newspapers  and  periodicals,  are  more  apt  to  read  an 
advertisement  in  which  the  facts  are  briefly  stated  than  one  that 
is  loaded  down  with  long  sentences  and  minute  details.  On  the 
other  hand,  farmers  and  others  who,  during  some  seasons  of  the 
year  have  an  abundance  of  leisure,  will  carefully  peruse  all  the 
fine  type  that  can  be  crowded  into  a  given  space.  The  character 
of  the  audience  to  be  addressed,  therefore,  is  an  important  factor 
in  determining  the  dimensions  of  the  advertisement. 

When  you  have  finally  settled  upon  the  size  and  have  assembled 
all  the  facts  you  need  in  the  construction  of  the  ad,  you  are  ready 
to  make  the  layout.  In  preparing  small  advertisements  the 
commercial  letter  size  of  paper  will  be  found  most  convenient. 
The  grade  used  is  a  matter  of  individual  taste  although  most 
writers  prefer  paper  of  fair  quality  so  that  in  case  ink  is  employed 
it  will  not  run  and  spoil  the  appearance  of  the  layout.  Place 
your  name  or  the  name  of  the  firm  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner. 
This  is  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  printer  in  identifying  the 
advertisement.  In  a  printing  office  where  many  pieces  of  copy  are 
being  set  every  day  some  such  method  must  be  used  to  prevent 
the  making  of  mistakes  by  the  compositors  when  the  sheets  are 
mislaid  or  separated. 

The  space  with  which  the  advertisement  writer  has  to  deal  is 
usually  rectangular  in  shape  because  it  lends  itself  more  readily 
to  the  purposes  of  display.  The  favorite  form  is  the  oblong 
known  as  the  "golden  proportion,"  3  to  5. 

It  is  the  advertising  man's  job  to  arrange  the  type,  the  illus- 
trations and  the  white  space  in  such  a  manner  that  the  several 
parts  of  the  advertisement  shall  be  well  balanced  and  har- 
monize with  each  other.  There  are  three  principal  factors  in 
balance — measure,  tone  and  color.  In  a  layout  there  can  be  no 
consideration  of  measure  balance  without  also  a  consideration 
of  tone  balance,  because  type  from  its  very  nature  renders  pure 
blacks  and  whites  impossible,  the  space  between  the  letters  and 
lines  inevitably  introducing  the  element  of  gray.  You  should 
so  employ  your  mass  colors  that  they  will  give  the  advertise- 
ment a  harmonious  appearance.  Every  line  of  type,  every  cut, 
every  ornament  should  be  scrutinized  carefully,  with  regard  to 
the  part  it  plays  in  the  design. 


16  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

The  fundamental  principles  of  the  layout  are  the  principles  of 
contrast,  but  contrast  in  more  than  one  direction.  There  is, 
for  instance,  the  contrast  of  the  several  parts  of  an  advertisement 
with  each  other,  and  the  contrast  of  the  whole  with  other  advertise- 
ments on  the  same  page  or  the  opposite  page.  When  the  parts 
of  an  advertisement  harmonize  with  each  other,  when  black  ink 
is  used,  you  need  not  worry  much  about  how  it  is  going  to  contrast 
with  the  surrounding  advertisements  in  representative  mediums. 
It  is  only  when  color  is  introduced  that  you  need  to  be  specially 
concerned. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  lay  out  a  single  4-in.  column,  shoe 
advertisement.  Take  a  sheet  of  paper  and  with  a  pencil  or 
pen,  and  a  ruler,  draw  a  diagram  the  exact  size  of  the  advertise- 
ment. A  newspaper  column  is  2^£  in.  wide;  therefore,  the 
ad  we  are  to  write  will  be  2^  in.  wide,  and  4  in.  deep.  The 
four  lines  you  have  drawn  represent  the  border.  As  an  illustra- 
tion showing  the  size  and  appearance  of  the  shoe  will  greatly 
strengthen  the  pulling  power  of  the  advertisement  you  must 
indicate  its  position  and  size  on  the  layout. 

If  you  have  a  proof  of  the  cut  you  can  paste  it  in  where  it 
belongs.  If  not,  draw  a  diagram  of  the  block  upon  which  it  is 
mounted  and  write  the  word  "  cut "  in  the  enclosed  space.  Write 
in  the  headline  and  other  principal  display  lines  in  approximately 
the  same  size  letters  that  you  want  the  printer  to  use  in  setting 
them  up  in  type.  After  locating  the  headline  and  other  display 
lines,  and  the  name  plate,  there  is  left  a  certain  amount  of  space 
for  the  text  matter  which  appears  on  the  copy  sheet. 

The  marking  of  the  size  and  style  of  type  is  done  outside  the 
layout  diagram.  Before  you  have  become  familiar  with  the 
different  kinds  of  type  and  borders  you  can  cut  specimen  letters, 
or  sections  of  border  of  the  style  you  desire  to  have  used  by  the 
printer,  from  advertisements  found  in  the  newspapers  and  maga- 
zines, and  paste  them  opposite  the  several  lines  you  have  written 
on  the  layout.  If  he  does  not  have  the  particular  type  you 
want,  the  printer  will  use  the  one  in  stock  that  most  closely 
resembles  it.  Of  course  this  is  only  a  temporary  expedient. 

The  number  of  styles  of  type  used  in  setting  up  display  adver- 
tisements is  relatively  small  and  it  does  not  take  long  to  learn 


HOW  TO  LAY  OUT  AN  ADVERTISEMENT  17 

their  names  and  distinguishing  characteristics.  You  can  secure 
catalogues  from  type-founders  or  you  can  purchase  at  the  book 
stores  pamphlets  or  handbooks  giving  the  different  type  faces. 
After  a  little  study  you  will  be  able  to  indicate  on  the  layout  the 
exact  style  and  size  of  the  type  in  which  your  advertisement  is  to 
appear.  A  special  chapter  on  the  use  of  type  will  be  found 
elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

The  completed  layout  of  the  advertisement  we  have  been 
writing  is  presented  on  p.  18. 

On  a  separate  sheet  of  paper,  known  as  the  "copy"  sheet,  is 
written  the  text  matter  just  as  it  is  to  appear  in  the  advertisement. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  the  several  display  lines  indicated 
on  the  layout  although  you  may  do  so  for  your  own  satisfaction. 
The  position  of  the  several  paragraphs  on  the  layout  is  indicated 
by  letters  marked  opposite  them  on  the  copy  sheet. 

When  the  layout  and  copy,  prepared  as  described  above,  are 
sent  to  the  printer  to  be  set  in  type,  the  latter  knows  exactly  how 
you  want  it  to  look  when  the  job  is  completed.  If  it  is  a  rush  job 
two  compositors  can  be  employed  upon  it  at  the  same  time — one 
working  from  the  layout  and  the  other  from  the  copy  sheet. 
When,  in  the  case  of  the  shoe  ad  we  have  just  been  writing,  the 
matter  has  all  been  set,  a  proof  has  been  duly  struck  off,  and  the 
typographical  errors  have  been  corrected,  the  advertisement  will 
appear  as  shown  on  p.  19. 

Much  depends  upon  the  arrangement  of  the  matter  in  the 
layout.  The  position  of  the  illustration  or  the  headlines  may 
determine  the  effectiveness  of  the  advertisement.  Sometimes  the 
judicious  use  of  white  space  will  serve  to  give  it  a  prominence 
that  it  would  not  otherwise  have,  and  greatly  increase  its  pro- 
ductiveness. A  national  mail  order  house  which  was  running 
an  advertisement  in  a  large  list  of  mediums  discovered  that  the 
inquiries  it  received  were  costing  $3  each.  As  one  in  every  three 
inquiries  resulted  in  a  sale,  and  the  article  was  sold  for  $10,  every 
sale  represented  an  advertising  cost  of  $9.  Adding  to  this  the 
cost  of  manufacture — $2.50 — every  sale  represented  an  expense 
to  the  house  of  $11.50  or  a  loss  of  $1.50.  It  was  quite  clear  to 
the  manufacturer  that  unless  the  advertisement  could  be  made 
to  greatly  increase  the  number  of  inquiries  and  thus  materially 


18 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


S-C. 


<  y/**^ 


DEALER'S 
NAME. 


Layout  for  shoe  ad. 

(  Teyi  -for  the.  afore  at/  } 

Any  young  girl  would  be  attracted 
by  the  sleek  beauty  of  these 
Dawn  pumps. 

There  are  beautiful  in  line  and 
style  but  above  all  they  are  com- 
fortable and  they  stay  on.   The 
price,  for  so  ouch  shoe  beaut y/ is 
moderate. 


HOW  TO  LAY  OUT  AN  ADVERTISEMENT 


19 


"DAWN" 


A  NY  young  girl  would  be 
**•  attracted  by  the  sleek 
beauty  of  these  Dawn  pumps. 

They  are  beautiful  in  line  and 
style,  but  above  all  they  are 
comfortable  and  they  stay  on. 

The  price,  for  so  much  shoe 
beauty  is  moderate. 


(DEALER'S 

NAME) 


Completed  shoe  ad  from  layout  and  text  shown  on  p.  18. 


20  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

reduce  the  selling  cost  he  would  soon  become  a  bankrupt.  Evi- 
dently something  was  wrong  with  the  ad,  but  what  was  it? 

An  expert  whose  advice  was  sought  declared  that  the  copy 
was  all  right  but  that  its  attention-getting  power  could  be  im- 
measurably increased  by  a  better  layout — a  layout  that  was 
capable  of  pulling  the  reader's  eye  into  the  text.  He  rearranged 
the  matter  and  had  it  reset.  When  a  proof  of  the  ad  was  pasted 
over  the  old  one  in  a  mail  order  publication  it  dominated  the 
page.  The  redressed  advertisement  when  used  in  two  mediums 
the  following  month  produced  replies  at  a  cost  of  45  cents  each! 

We  have  gone  into  the  subject  of  preparing  the  layout  at  some 
length  because  of  the  need  of  a  clear  understanding  by  the  student 
of  the  successive  steps  that  are  taken.  If  the  instructions  given 
are  carefully  followed  you  will  have  few  disputes  with  printers 
over  the  set-up  of  your  advertisements,  you  will  protect  yourselves 
from  imposition,  and  save  money  that  you  might  otherwise  have 
to  pay  for  work  that  would  have  to  be  done  over  again. 

Questions 

1.  What  is  a  layout  and  what  two  services  does  it  render? 

2.  In  preparing  a  layout  what  is  the  first  thing  to  be  done? 

3.  What  considerations  enter  into  the  determining  of  the  sizes  of  ad- 
vertisements? 

4.  Of  the  two  articles,  cuff-protectors  and  bread,  which  would  require 
the  larger  space? 

5.  In  what  way  does  the  intelligence  of  a  community  influence  the  char- 
acter of  the  advertising  to  be  used? 

6.  How  do  you  indicate  on  the  layout  the  size  and  kind  of  type  in  which 
the  advertisement  is  to  be  set,  if  you  are  unfamiliar  with  the  names  of  the 
different  families  of  type? 

7.  Why  is  a  judicious  arrangement  of  text,  illustration  and  white  space 
important?    Give  an  example. 

8.  Prepare  a  3-in.  single-column  layout  for  an  advertisement  of  a  popular- 
priced  restaurant — one  with  which  you  are  acquainted. 


HOW  TO  LAY  OUT  AN  ADVERTISEMENT 


21 


The  Regaf 


in  Fine  Russia  Co// 
$9,50 


The  Newest  Sport  Oxford 


R  evidence  that  even  in  this  season  of  many  frivolous 
JP  fancies  the  need  of  a  smart,  practical  sport  shoe  is 
not  forgotten,  you  need  look  jao  further  than  these  new 
Regal  Oxfords. 

Of  ^soft,  Russia  Calfskin,  so  practical  for  out-o'-door 
sports,  with  rubber  soles  and  heels,  the  "Yasser"  expresses 
style  in  every  line, 

<Th&  REGAL  SHOE  STORES 

REGAL  SHOES  Exclusively 

for  MEN,  WOMEN  and  CHILDREN 


NBW  YORK 

r.  Cortltndt)    <!N»»uSt.        - 

vifc  Bro«dw.y»t»7tliSt.  .  «ix      ve. 

t.iroai  A»f.»tJ«!«tSt.  "         .t  60th  St.       6th  Av».  »*  SUt  SU 

2929  Third  Ave.(Nr.  1 62nd  St.)    891  So.  - 
Broadviy  m 


'  Broadway  «t  27th'st.— Men>  Sltou  Only 
40  Wot  34th  St.— Wovun't  Shotl  Onlll 


BROOKLYN 
4  Fl«tbu»h  Av«.         1049  Broadway 

(«or.  Fulton  St.)    IS'6       •  " 
SOI  Broadiviy  46«  Fifth  ATC. 

367  Ffclton  St.— litn't  .<:»o<«  O«(» 
NEWARK.  N.J.      JERSEYCITY 

835  Broad  St.        108  Newark  AT*. 


Regal  Shoe  advertising  has  always  been  distinctive.     The  space  used  is  never 
overcrowded  and  the  layout  is  always  well  balanced  and  in  good  taste. 


CHAPTER  IV 
ADVERTISEMENT  CONSTRUCTION 

In  writing  an  advertisement  it  is  well  to  keep  constantly  in  mind 
the  four  things  it  is  expected  to  do,  namely,  to  attract  attention,  to 
arouse  interest,  to  create  desire  and  to  effect  a  sale.  It  is  quite 
evident  that  unless  it  catches  and  holds  the  eye  of  the  reader 
it  cannot  deliver  its  message.  It  takes  the  eye  only  a  few 
seconds  to  travel  across  the  several  columns  of  a  newspaper,  but 
in  that  brief  time  lies  the  only  chance  the  advertisement  will 
have  of  making  a  customer  out  of  the  reader.  What  we  must  do, 
therefore,  is  to  so  arrange  its  physical  appearance  or  dress  that  he 
cannot  fail  to  see  it  as  he  hastily  glances  over  the  page. 

Hence,  to  attract  attention  we  make  use  of  display  type — that  is, 
type  that  is  larger  in  size  and  bolder  in  outline  than  that  in  which 
the  body  matter  of  the  publication  is  set.  We  employ  headlines 
which  serve  as  sign  posts  for  arresting  attention;  borders,  which 
furnish  an  appropriate  frame  for  the  advertisement  and  separate 
it  from  other  announcements  on  the  same  page;  illustrations, 
which  add  to  its  attractiveness  and  increase  its  selling  power; 
and,  finally,  white  space,  which,  if  judiciously  distributed,  causes 
the  text  to  stand  out  on  the  page  and,  at  the  same  time,  makes  it 
easier  to  read. 

To  arouse  interest  we  appeal  to  the  senses — sight,  hearing,  taste, 
touch  and  smell — and  sometimes  by  working  upon  the  reader's 
ambition,  pride,  vanity,  love  of  home  and  kindred,  his  social 
and  religious  instincts,  his  thrift. 

To  create  desire  we  appeal  to  his  reason  by  presenting  arguments 
showing  how  the  possession  of  the  article  will  contribute  to  his 
personal  comfort  or  that  of  his  family,  or  increase  his  efficiency 
or  that  of  his  employees.  We  must  not  only  demonstrate  to  him 
its  advantages  but  we  must  convince  him  of  his  own  need  of  it. 

To  effect  a  sale  we  state  prices  and,  when  necessary,  how  payment 

22 


ADVERTISEMENT  CONSTRUCTION 


23 


may  be  made;  we  tell  where  the  article  may 
be  obtained;  if  by  mail,  we  lighten  his  labor 
in  sending  for  it  by  attaching  a  coupon 
which,  when  his  name  and  address  are  filled 
in,  constitutes  a  formal  order. 

A  well-constructed  advertisement,  designed 
for  newspaper  or  magazine  use,  consists  of 
first,  a  headline;  second,  the  introduction; 
third,  argument  or  statement  of  facts,  and 
fourth,  the  name-plate.  Of  course  there  are 
many  variations  of  this  arrangement.  For 
instance,  the  advertisements  of  a  certain 
Philadelphia  cigar  manufacturer  carry  no 
headlines.  Those  of  a  popular  men's 
clothing  house  in  New  York  substitute  for 
headlines  illustrations,  often  of  a  whimsical 
or  humorous  character,  but  never  correct 
representations  of  any  of  the  goods  it  offers 
for  sale. 

Many  advertising  men  claim  that  an 
advertisement  without  a  headline  does  not 
have  the  same  chance  of  being  read  as  the 
one  with  a  headline.  People  object  to 
being  compelled  to  read  half  way  through 
an  announcement  before  they  can  tell  what 
it  is  about.  Therefore,  when  they  rim 
across  one  of  these  headless  ads  the 
chances  are  that  they  will  skip  it. 
Another  disadvantage  it  has  is  that  if  it 
appears  at  the  top  of  a  column  the  reader 
cannot  tell  at  first  glance  whether  or  not 
it  is  a  continuation  of  an  article  or  an 
advertisement  from  the  bottom  of  the 
preceding  column.  If  he  has  sufficient 
curiosity  to  study  into  the  matter  he  will 
in  time,  of  course,  discover  the  truth. 
But  why  put  this  extra  burden  upon  the 
reader?  It  should  be  the  writer's  con- 


SPENCER1AN 

PERSONAL 

Steel  Pens 


Fiiw  Medium. 

Stub  and 
Ball  pointed 


The  Standard  for  over 
lialf  a  century 

It's  the  special  Spencerian 
steel  and  the  finely  worked,, 
uniform  points  that  make 
Spencerian  Pens  last  so  long 
and  write  so  smoothly.  Send 
lOc  for  jo  samples,  different 
pailems.  -Then  pick  a  style 
that  fits  your  hand.  Use  that 
style  always.  We  will  also 
include  that  fascinating  book, 
"What  Your  Handwriting 
Keveals,"  free. 

SPENCERIAN     PEN"   CO. 
349  Broadway  .New  York  Citr 

The  falling  stream  of 
pens  directs  the  eye  to 
the  text  at  the  bottom — 
a  clever  device  that  can 
be  employed  to  advan- 
tage in  newspaper  or 
magazine  ads. 


24 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


Valspar  Makes  Another  Record! 
It  withstands  36  hours  of  live  steam 


HUMAN  ingenuity  never  devised  a  more  One  startlne  fait  soon  became  evident 
severe  and  conclusive  varnish  lest,  but  —namely,  that  the  furniture  teas  absolutely 
it  all  happened  accidentally  in  the  unharmed. 


orporatio 


i  New  York  Cit; 

one  Saturday.     At  no 


A  cold  mi 

orders  we 

heat.     This  was  complied  with,    but    one 

little  detail  was  overlooked — to  close  on  open 


E>n umK  • 

.SPAR 


An  investigation  developed  that  the  reason 
"i''11'"5'  had\"l° beTn°v^nUhed  whh*V,J.p«" 


had  ".welled  ^ucluhat  only  tilh  dlffic'dt'y 
wa»  an  entrance  forced. 


which  , 


The  Inspector's  Letter 

re  quote. 


l,.,.l  bten  forced  '. 


iih  V.l.p.,. 


A  Scene  of  Wreckage 

When  the  steam  was  finally  turned  off  and 

dworl          . •  ""ur,"™"8! 'bid  °tc'.  "l^'hed  wTil  ""' 


is   absolutely    waterproof.      It    won't   turn 
while  in  water,  and  it  is  adapted  for  every 

dustrial  buildings  of  all  kinds. 

For  your  front  door  or  piazza— rain  and 

For  your  front  hall  —  wet  feet  and  dn'p- 

For  your  kitchen  and  pantry  —  so    you 
can  wash  it  freely  and   sterilize  the  place, 
where  your  food  is  prepared. 
For  all  your  furniture-because  Valspar 

hoVdishes  a'nd"Ipi*ied"liqu'ids0o"all  kinds' 
For  your  bathroom  —  making  a  finish  as 
waterproof  as  tile  and  far  less  costly. 
For  all  your  floors  —  because  you  can 
freely  wash  them  and  you'll  never  need  to 
wax  or  polish  them. 


was*  iTe'raHy  boilecf  aw°ay"  The  wall-pa| 
was  hanging  off  in  sheets.    In  fi 
thing  at  first  sight  seemed  utterly 


that  |K|» 


ibiolutely  the  bril  var. 
Mast  paint  dealers  carry  V  ah  far.   If  you  cannot  get  it  Mite  direct  la  us. 

VALENTINE  &  COMPANY 

to±»  ' 


Special  Offer 

•cvcied  copd. 

•B  .  ,;  j  b  -  - 

SSESllM? 

H 

VA.LENTINE 

&  COMPAMY.  4*  Four*  A^.  N 

Y 

4^>u«e  un  ol  VJ,p«.  f«  ohid.  I 

0- 

The  writer  of  this  ad  has  taken  advantage  of  a  news  event  to  direct  attention 
to  a  strong  selling  point  of  Valspar  Varnish.  The  headline  states  a  news  fact 
and  the  human  interest  picture  backs  it  up.  Advertisements  of  this  kind  are 
certain  to  be  read. 


ADVERTISEMENT  CONSTRUCTION  25 

slant  aim  to  make  every  advertisement  easy  to  read  and  easy 
to  understand. 

Another  variation  in  the  construction  of  an  advertisement  is  the 
omission  of  the  introduction.  Introductions  are  not  always 
necessary,  especially  in  presenting  an  article  which  has  long  been 
made  familiar  to  the  public  through  advertising.  In  such  cases 
the  sales  argument  is  brief,  sometimes  only  a  sentence  or  two 
being  used,  but  with  the  name  of  the  article  conspicuously 
displayed.  Royal  Baking  Powder,  Postum,  Cream  of  Wheat, 
Babbitt's  Soap,  Mennen's  Talcum  Powder,  are  products  often 
advertised  in  this  way. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  construction  of  the  several  parts  of  an 
advertisement  as  enumerated  above.  The  headline,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  serves  to  arrest  the  eye  of  the  reader  as  it  moves 
over  the  printed  page,  just  as  the  word  "Hello!"  shouted  by  a 
friend  on  the  street  causes  you  to  look  in  his  direction.  If  you 
should  go  to  a  country  fair  and  walk  along  the  street  upon  which 
the  side  shows  are  located  the  one  that  would  receive  your  patron- 
age would  probably  be  the  one  displaying  the  most  attractive 
picture  banners,  or  the  one  having  the  most  persuasive  "barker." 
The  headline  serves  as  the  "barker"  for  the  advertisement. 
Glance  over  the  pages  of  your  favorite  daily  newspaper  and  see 
how  quickly  certain  advertisements  will  make  you  stop  and  look 
at  them.  While  illustrations  and  the  size  of  the  copy  are  features 
that  appeal  to  your  eye,  in  four  cases  out  of  five  it  will  be  found 
that  it  is  the  headlines  that  cause  you  to  read  the  text  matter. 

Much  care  should  be  given  to  the  construction  of  the  headline 
because  of  its  importance  in  securing  and  holding  the  attention  of 
the  reader.  There  are  several  kinds  of  headlines  and  it  is  your 
duty  to  select  the  one  that  is  best  adapted  to  the  article  you  are 
exploiting  and  the  particular  audience  you  wish  to  influence. 

Headlines. — Headlines  may  be  divided  into  three  classes  as 
follows: 

1.  Those  that  state  a  fact,  as  for  example  "Sterling  Silverware  is 
a  Solid  Investment."  (The  Gorham  Company.) 

"There  is  No  Magic  in  Any  Dentifrice."     (Dr.  Lyons'  Tooth  Powder.) 
"Why  Some  Beds  are  Better  than  Others."     (Simmon's  Beds.) 
"Your  Skin  is  What  You  Make  It."     (Woodbury's  Facial  Soap.) 


26  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

2.  Those  that  express  a  command,  as  shown  in  the  following 
examples : 

"Book  Lovers,  Lend  Us  Your  Ears!"     (S.  D.  Warren  Company.) 
"Lighten  Household  Work!"     (Arco  Wand  Vacuum  Cleaner.) 
"Make  Spare  Time  Pay!"     (Curtis  Publishing  Company.) 
"Don't  Force  Your  Widow  to  Marry  Again!"     (Insurance  Company.) 

3.  Those  that  ask  a  question,  as  in  these  headlines : 

"Good  Morning!     Have  You  used  Pear's  Soap?"     (Pears'  Soap.) 
"What's  On  To-night?"     (Paramount  and  Artcraft  Motion  Pictures.) 
"Are  Your  Radiators  Fuel  Savers  or  Wilful  Wasters?"     (Hoffman 
Valves.) 
"  Have  You  Bidden  in  the  Essex?"     (Essex  Motors.) 

The  desirability  of  giving  a  news  interest  to  the  headline  when 
possible  should  not  be  overlooked.  Such  a  headline  will  get 
attention  when  others  do  not.  The  public  is  accustomed  to 
look  at  newspaper  headlines  for  an  outline  of  the  important  news 
of  the  day.  The  first  thing  a  person  does  on  picking  up  a  morning 
or  evening  edition  is  to  glance  it  over  to  see  what  has  happened. 
Headline  writing  is  one  of  the  most  important  duties  of  the 
editorial  department  and  the  editors  who  are  particularly  skilled 
in  this  kind  of  work  are  well  paid.  Given  two  newspapers  of 
equal  merit  in  news  and  editorial  values  the  one  having  the  best 
headlines  will  have  the  largest  circulation. 

From  these  facts  it  is  easy  to  understand  why  in  advertisement 
writing  it  is  advisable  to  use  news  headlines  whenever  the  subject 
will  lend  itself  to  such  treatment.  Intelligent  people  are  always 
seeking  information  on  all  sorts  of  subjects.  Hence  if  you  can 
present  in  news  form  some  striking  fact  regarding  your  product, 
or,  through  a  well  expressed  question,  can  arouse  curiosity  that 
will  lead  a  person  to  read  the  advertisement  through  to  the  end, 
you  have  attained  one  of  the  chief  results  aimed  at  in  all  advertise- 
ment writing.  Here  are  some  good  examples  of  news  headlines 
taken  from  national  mediums : 

"You'll  Have  to  Dig  Up  Some  New  Alibi."     (Multigraph.) 
"Saving  5,000  Miles  by  'Tuning  Up'  Wheels."     (Goodyear.) 
"Doing  The  Thing  That  Couldn't  Be  Done."     (Graton  &  Knight 
Belts.) 
"40,000  Airplane  Plugs  a  Day."     (A.  C.  Spark  Plugs.) 


ADVERTISEMENT  CONSTRUCTION  27 

Text  matter,  or  "copy"  as  it  is  technically  called,  in  advertising 
practice,  may  be  classified  under  four  heads — selling,  educational, 
institutional  and  good-will. 


If  Napoleon.  Could 
Have  Sent  a  Telegram 

He  might  have  recalled  Grouchy  from  his  fruitless 
attacks  on  the  Prussian  rear  guard  and  protected  his  own 
right  flank.  But  communication  was  slow  —  and  the 
battle  of  Waterloo  was  lost 

In  times  of  war,  as  in  times  of  peace,  speed  in  com- 
'taunication  is  an  important  factor — often  the  deciding 
factor.  Whatever  the  need  or  special  emergency,  The 
Western  Union's  fifty  thousand  employees  and  one 
million,  five  hundred  thousand  miles  of  wire  are  at  your 
disposal  at  any  hour  of  any  day  or  night. 

Telegrams—  'Day  Letters— Night  Letters 
Cablegrams— Money  Transferred  by  Wire 

THE  WESTERN  UNION  TELEGRAPH  CO. 


The  headline  and  its  supporting  illustration  quickly  attract  attention  and 
appeal  to  the  imagination.  Before  a  line  of  the  text  is  read  one  begins  to  specu- 
late upon  what  might  have  happened  at  Waterloo  had  Napoleon  been  able  to 
wire  instructions  to  Grouchy. 


Selling  copy  constitutes  the  bulk  of  all  advertising  matter, 
and  therefore  is  the  most  important  and  deserves  the  closest 
study.  As  its  object  is  to  create  sales  directly  or  indirectly,  it 


28  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

points  out  the  advantages  of  the  article  that  is  being  exploited 
over  others  of  the  same  kind  or  class,  tells  why  the  public 
should  purchase  it,  names  the  price  at  which  it  is  sold  and  states 
where  it  may  be  obtained. 

Educational  copy  describes  the  article,  enumerates  its  uses 
and  tells  how  it  is  manufactured. 

Institutional  copy  aims  to  arouse  interest  in  the  company  or 
firm  producing  the  article  through  descriptions  of  the  organiza- 
tion, the  factory  and  its  equipment,  and  the  method  of  doing 
business. 

Good-will  copy  deals  with  the  character  of  the  concern — its 
commercial  and  financial  standing,  its  policies  and  practices. 

Earlier  in  this  chapter  we  learned  that  the  four  objects  of  an 
advertisement  are  to  attract  attention,  arouse  interest,  create 
desire  and  effect  a  sale.  If  you  will  keep  them  continuously  in 
mind  while  you  are  preparing  an  advertisement  you  will  be 
restrained  from  throwing  away  a  lot  of  money  and  wasting  much 
valuable  space  upon  copy  that  possesses  none  of  these  qualities. 
In  a  previous  chapter  (Chapter  II)  we  enumerated  some  of  the 
things  that  you  should  know  about  the  product  you  are  to  exploit, 
and  its  market,  before  putting  pencil  to  paper.  Assuming  that 
you  have  assembled  the  information  therein  indicated  and  that 
you  have  prepared  the  layout,  you  are  now  in  a  position  to  proceed 
with  the  construction  of  the  advertisement. 

While  the  writing  of  an  advertisement  seems  an  easy  matter  to 
those  who  have  had  no  experience  in  such  work,  nevertheless,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  it  calls  for  ability  of  a  peculiar  kind,  and  the 
exercise  of  much  patience  and  perseverance.  Advertisements 
are  not  usually  dashed  off  at  the  high  rate  of  speed  maintained 
by  a  reporter  in  turning  out  a  news  story.  Much  depends,  of 
course,  upon  the  writer's  quickness  of  mind  in  creating  ideas  and 
in  clothing  them  in  attractive  language.  Some  men  have  a 
natural  facility  of  expression  that  enables  them  to  write  rapidly 
and  convincingly  upon  subjects  with  which  they  are  familiar; 
while  others  are  obliged  to  hammer  out  laboriously  on  the  anvil 
of  thought  every  phrase  they  employ  that  differs  from  the  ordinary 
forms  of  expression.  In  advertising  agencies  handling  many 
accounts  the  copy-writers  must  be  able  to  turn  out  good  copy  at  a 


ADVERTISEMENT  CONSTRUCTION 


29 


"Good  workmen  know  the  ditft 


What  was  wrong  with  Bus 

on  Saturday,  J^ovember  8th? 


s.  ftV»  Ixiptrmuaoa  me  rtfrmt 


machine  has  got  to  wort  like  the  very  dickens  to  keep  up  with 
the  tide. 

"A  delay  of  15  minutes  in  the  morning  will  grow  to  two  or  three 
hour*  before  night.  Thai  is,  if  one  nun  jlows  up  for  10  or  i> 
minutes  early  in  the  day,  work  thai  should  come  out  at  >  (Kit  after- 
noon  u  not  finished  until  neat  7  »o.  We  can't  nuke  up  the  lost 
time,  the  schedule  for  the  day  is  broken,  and  it  gets  worse  *nd  worse. 

"About  8  30  on  Saturday  morning  (November  8,  toio).  Bus 
Wdkes,  *»ho  rum  the  shop  sander,  stops  his  machine  and  reaches 
for  a  ptcce  of  Speed-grits  i '  '<  D  Garnet  Paper  The  bo<  n  empt) . 

boy  scurrying  to  the  stockroom  for  a  supply  "9,'t  ate  out.'  sj>  s  the 
stock  boy.  I  aimed  to  order  it  m  yesterday  but  she  slipped  my  mind.' 
"  'Skip  across  the  street  to  the  hardware  «ore,  quick,'  says  the 
foreman  to  the  Bruih^>oy.  'and  get  a  couple  dozen  sheets  of  sand- 
paper '  Back  he  comes  and  Bus  Japs  on  a  sheet,  switches  on  the  motor 
and  »»-iy  goes  the  under. 

1  "No*  Bus  Wilkcs  is  a  'bear'  on  hi*  machine.  He  fought  the 
Boche  all  ov«  France  for  more  than  a  year  and  he's  in  the  habit  of 
treann'  'em  rough  When  he  turns  loose  on  a  pile  of  shoes  he 
mualty  nukes  the  fur  fly 


"But  rfus  day  there  was  something  wrong  with  Bus-  Work  ptled 
up  all  around  him.  He  passed  up  his  lunch  hour  and  stuck  to  it, 
but  he  just  couldn't  seem  to  keep  up.  The  Brush-boys  took  it  easy. 
waiting  for  Bus  to  pass  them  the  sanded  job-  The  whole  shop, 
from  the  sander  down  to  the  boys  that  shine  the  shoes  after  they 
are  finished,  was  on  a  drag. 

"We  ended  up  the  day  three  hours  behind  schedule.  After  it  was 
all  over  I  called  Bus  over  to  me.  'VC'hat  was  the  matter  all  day, 
Bus7'  I  sa*d.  'You  slowed  up  something  awful.' 

*  'Mr.  Skinner.'  said  Bus,  'it  was  that  dog  rotten  sandpaper  WJlif 
got  this  morning  I  just  couldn't  get  the  work  out  of  it  Look  at 
Hits  sheet,  you  don't  call  ttut  Manning's  Speed  gnts,  do  you?1 

'I  looked,  and  sure  enough,  it  wasn't. 

"This  is  a  true  story  of  how  a  litdc  'ornery'  sandpaper  lost  my 
shop  three  h.-urs  and  several  dollars" 


Abtne  it  it  pichtrt,  rjfai  ofiet  tint  letter  »Jt  Tsnttr*,  Jv»e*[  Aw  W&et 
e»mkmhta*Jer.    Nx*r  ll*  mle!   Tfa>W  mr«M«nri^«M 
SfffJgnti  M  uofkforhm  j/f.T  (Ar..  "GW»o'W*  l*c»  tt*  ekgfmcr  ' 
mjde  iff  Mjtnmg  Ab<j-ne  Ca.  /«f,    F*torf  ami 
.  To),  N.  Y,  Stla  Ofen  m  V^ttat,  CVjro,  Caxmin. 
H&clft*.  S,.  Lcmit.  &«  F««IKA  **J  take,  UaJt-f  «n 
Leak  la,  Hjt-tng  Abtunt  Co.  a  p»r  Hkfkm  teak. 
iW  leeir,  fa  "Tlf  -DifotKr  "Seek"-  fmV  Utt  ». 


Manning 


The  newspaper  narrative  style  of  presentation  is  always  appealing  when  well 
done.  Here  it  is  effectively  used  in  advertising  an  abrasive.  The  copy  occupied 
a  page  in  a  weekly  magazine. 


30 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


fresh 

* 


Walls 

Floors 

\Vbodwork 


Makes 

Housecleaninj 

Easy 


d  Dutch 
'eanser 


The  fact  that  the  public  has  been  told  many,  many  times  that  Old  Dutch 
Cleanser  "Chases  Dirt"  made  it  unnecessary  for  the  designer  of  this  advertise- 
ment to  use  much  descriptive  matter.  The  spotless  walls  and  woodwork  and  the 
bright  look  of  the  linoleum  on  the  floor  tell,  almost  without  words,  what  the 
cleanser  will  do. 


ADVERTISEMENT  CONSTRUCTION  31 

rapid  rate.  They  are,  therefore,  picked  men  and  command 
salaries  above  the  average. 

There  are  certain  well  defined  principles  governing  the  pre- 
paration of  copy  the  observance  of  which  will  help  the  writer 
to  produce  advertisements  that  will  command  attention  and 
promote  sales.  Some  of  the  more  important  of  these  are  the 
following : 

Use  simple,  everyday  English  such  as  persons  having  a  com- 
mon-school education  can  understand  without  referring  to  a 
dictionary.  Technical  words,  words  taken  from  foreign  lan- 
guages, or  words  the  meaning  of  which  is  only  familiar  to  college 
graduates,  or  highly  trained  scientific  or  professional  men,  should 
be  omitted  from  all  advertisements  addressed  to  the  general 
public.  Let  your  sentences  be  brief  and  to  the  point.  We 
live  in  a  busy  age,  and  although  more  newspapers,  periodicals 
and  books  are  published  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  people  have  less  tune  to  read  them.  Hence  in  our  efforts 
to  interest  the  public  in  what  we  have  to  sell  we  must  tell  our 
story  graphically,  in  a  few  words,  and  in  such  an  eye-appealing 
way  that  it  may  be  taken  in  at  a  glance.  Long  and  involved 
sentences  are  tiresome  and  unattractive  to  the  person  seeking 
information  about  a  commercial  article. 

It  is  your  duty  to  make  the  reading  of  the  advertisement  as 
easy  as  possible,  but  you  are  not  doing  this  if  you  keep  putting 
up  barriers  in  the  form  of  unfamiliar  words,  involved  sentences, 
and  wearying  descriptions.  The  best  model  for  simplicity  of 
style  and  directness  of  statement  is  the  Bible.  Study  it  every 
day,  not  alone  as  a  religious  duty  or  privilege,  but  to  familiarize 
yourself  with  the  best  methods  of  expression  employed  by  the 
greatest  writers  of  all  time.  In  all  literature  you  can  find  nothing 
to  compare  with  its  poems,  its  narratives,  and  its  statements  of 
fact.  You  are  never  in  doubt  as  to  what  the  writer  means.  The 
sentences  are  short,  the  words  of  which  they  are  composed  are 
simple  and  familiar,  and  the  truths  they  convey  burn  themselves 
into  the  mind  of  the  reader.  The  entire  story  of  the  Creation 
is  told  in  less  than  a  thousand  words. 

Give  Important  Facts  about  the  Article  That  the  Public  Should 
Know. — This  seems  simple  enough  but  an  examination  of  current 


32  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

advertisements  shows  that  quite  a  number  are  sadly  lacking  in 
the  kind  of  information  that  most  people  want  to  have  in  order 
to  decide  whether  the  article  would  be  a  desirable  purchase. 
No  doubt  many  of  you  have  seen  such  advertisements.  Recently 
a  New  York  department  store  in  an  attractive,  well-displayed 
announcement  advertised  a  sale  of  oriental  and  domestic  rugs. 
Unfortunately  neither  the  sizes  nor  the  prices  were  given.  Hence 
many  people  who  saw  the  advertisement  and  might  have  bought 
one  or  more  of  them  did  not  do  so  because  these  facts  were 
omitted.  Had  the  advertisement  been  that  of  a  mail  order  house 
the  omissions  might  not  have  been  so  serious,  provided  it  con- 
tained an  offer  to  send,  on  request,  a  booklet  giving  the  desired 
information.  Unless  an  advertisement  contains  selling  points, 
which  is  only  another  term  for  facts  having  a  direct  appeal,  it 
fails  to  perform  the  service  for  which  it  is  intended. 

Mention  the  Price. — In  nine  times  out  of  ten  prices  should  be 
quoted.  In  retail  advertising  they  should  rarely  ever  be  omitted 
unless  they  have  become  standardized  through  long  practice  in 
the  trade.  In  national  advertising  greater  latitude  is  allowed. 
As  a  rule  people  want  to  know  the  cost  of  the  article  they  have 
been  reading  about.  There  are  several  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  quoting  prices.  If  the  price  is  high  it  will  keep  away  curi- 
osity gratifiers  and  people  who  couldn't  buy  because  they 
haven't  the  money.  If  the  goods  are  being  sold  by  mail  it 
saves  much  useless  correspondence;  if  sold  at  retail  it  saves  the 
tune  of  the  clerks.  If  the  price  is  low  it  will  be  an  inducement. 

Most  people  have  to  watch  their  expenditures  very  carefully 
and  with  them  price  is  often  the  deciding  factor.  When  the 
price  is  not  given  the  reader  infers  that  it  is  higher  than  he  can 
afford  to  pay  and  loses  all  further  interest  in  it.  In  this  he 
may  be  mistaken.  The  price  may  have  been  omitted  because  of 
trade  conditions  or  other  business  reasons,  but  in  any  event  it 
lessens  the  pulling  power  of  the  advertisement.  The  fact  that 
many  persons  will  buy  an  article  at  any  reasonable  price  that 
might  be  charged  for  it  does  not  diminish  the  desirability  of 
telling  for  what  price  it  is  sold. 

Put  Human  Interest  into  What  You  Write. — There  is  no  more 
powerful  appeal  in  literature  or  in  advertising  than  the  heart 


ADVERTISEMENT  CONSTRUCTION  33 

appeal.  We  are  all  sentimentalists  although  we  do  not  always 
admit  it.  We  are  moved  to  action  more  frequently  by  sentiment 
than  by  argument.  Some  advertisements  give  you  the  impres- 
sion that  they  were  written  in  a  refrigerator.  They  have  no 
warmth,  no  feeling  behind  them.  They  are  mathematically 
correct  in  form  and  in  statement  but  they  lack  that  breath  of 
life  that  gives  vital  force  to  the  message  they  are  intended  to 
deliver.  You  will  not  always  be  able  to  give  to  your  copy  the 
human  interest  or  heart  appeal,  because  the  subject  may  not  lend 
itself  to  it,  but  in  a  majority  of  instances  it  will  be  possible.  It 
will  take  some  study  and  ingenuity  to  develop  the  material  upon 
which  to  base  an  advertisement  of  this  kind  but  the  results  will 
more  than  compensate  you  for  the  effort.  Here  is  a  good  example 
of  human  interest  copy: 

"On  the  job — when  you  want  to  think  hard  and  think  straight — 
the  old  familiar  feel  of  your  favorite  pipe  and  the  haze  of  good  tobacco 
smoke  seem  to  cut  you  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world  and  let  your  mind 
work  the  way  it  should. 

"This  being  the  case,  you'll  be  glad  to  know  that  the  pipe  that 
never  interrupts,  nor  takes  your  mind  off  your  work,  is  the  Wellington, 
the  Universal  Pipe.  As  you  smoke  your  Wellington  there's  never  a 
bubble  nor  a  gurgle.  The  well  attends  to  that  by  catching  all  moisture 
and  loose  tobacco  crumbs.  The  smoke  comes,  quiet  and  cool  and 
sweet  as  a  night  breeze,  and  it  comes  up  away  from  your  tongue,  through 
the  top  opening  in  the  lid. 

"You  will  like  your  Wellington  from  the  very  first.  It  is  always 
made  of  genuine  French  briar,  seasoned  by  our  own  special  process  so 
as  to  break  in  sweet  and  mellow.  And  it's  a  good  old  reliable  friend — 
guaranteed  against  cracking  or  burning  through. 

"Get  a  Wellington  Pipe.  It  will  fit  into  your  life  in  a  mighty  agree- 
able way.  It  has  fitted  into  more  men's  lives  than  any  other  pipe. 
Good  dealers  have  it  in  all  sizes,  shapes  and  grades  from  75  cents  up." 

Tell  the  Truth.  Avoid  Misrepresentation. — There  was  a  time, 
and  not  so  long  ago,  either,  when  advertising  license  permitted 
the  broadest  latitude  of  statement;  when  a  merchant  could 
advertise  men's  shoddy  suits  as  all  wool,  adulterated  spices  as 
pure,  and  brass  watches  as  14-carat  gold,  and  still  retain  his 
church  membership  and  his  position  as  a  respected  business  man. 


34  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

But  that  day  has  gone  by.  Thirty-six  states  have  passed  laws 
making  it  a  criminal  offense  to  misrepresent  goods  or  securities 
in  advertisements. 

The  quickest  way  to  wreck  a  business  is  to  lie  about  the  goods 
it  has  to  sell  in  its  advertising.  A  few  years  ago  the  owners  of 
a  large  department  store  in  New  York  decided  to  retire  from 
business.  They  had  been  long  established  and  had  won  the 
confidence  of  the  public  through  honest  advertising  and  square 
dealing.  In  order  to  make  a  greater  profit  the  new  owners, 
who  still  retained  the  old  firm  name,  gradually  stocked  the  store 
with  a  cheaper  grade  of  goods  than  had  formerly  been  carried, 
but  claimed  in  their  advertising  that  they  were  of  the  best 
quality.  It  did  not  take  the  public  long  to  discover  the  decep- 
tion. Old  customers  quit  trading  at  the  store  and  the  number 
of  transient  purchasers  grew  smaller  and  smaller.  Sales  fell  off  so 
alarmingly  that  finally  the  owners,  realizing  that  they  had  made 
a  serious  mistake,  changed  their  advertising  policy,  but  it  was 
too  late  and  the  business  went  onto  the  rocks  with  a  crash. 

Misrepresentation  in  retail  advertising  is  today  more  often  the 
result  of  carelessness  or  to  a  lack  of  definite  information  than  to 
deliberate  intention.  The  copy  is  written  under  pressure,  in  a 
hurried  manner,  from  information  that  is  incomplete  or  inac- 
curate. One  of  the  familiar  examples  of  this  kind  of  copy  is 
found  in  comparative  prices.  A  woman's  coat  is  advertised  as 
being  "worth  $30"  but  to  be  sold  for  $20,  and  a  dozen  other 
garments  are  similarly  described.  If  the  coat  was  really  "worth 
$30"  the  merchant  would  not  sell  it  at  33^<j  per  cent,  discount. 
If  he  had  said  that  the  garment  was  once  worth  $30  but  because 
it  had  gone  out  of  style  or  was  shop-worn  it  would  be  sold  at 
$20,  he  would  have  told  the  truth  and  would  have  deceived  no 
one.  Comparative  prices  are  not  now  used  by  the  better  class 
of  merchants. 

When  you  describe  an  article  tell  the  truth  about  it.  If  it  is 
not  first-class,  say  so.  If  the  goods  ate  priced  below  the  usual 
charge,  tell  why.  You  won't  lose  anything  by  it.  People  will 
soon  come  to  admire  your  frankness  and  honesty.  They  will 
believe  in  you  and  in  what  you  say.  Public  confidence  is  the 
greatest  asset  of  any  business. 


ADVERTISEMENT  CONSTRUCTION  35 

The  Associated  Advertising  Clubs  of  the  World  has  done  more 
to  clean  up  the  advertising  pages  of  the  newspapers  and  magazines 
than  any  other  organization  of  business  men.  Only  a  few  out  of 
the  thousands  of  publications  can  now  be  found  that  will  accept 
the  advertisements  of  "fake"  oil,  mining,  automobile  or  other 
fraudulent  companies,  or  of  patent  medicines  that  are  repre- 
sented as  cures  for  numerous  diseases.  Through  its  Vigilance 
Committee  the  A.  A.  C.  W.  has  brought  to  book  many  advertis- 
ing crooks  and  by  timely  warning  has  kept  a  number  of  mer- 
chants from  committing  business  suicide. 

Questions 

1.  What  are  the  four  objects  of  an  advertisement  and  how  is  each  one 
accomplished? 

2.  Name  the  four  parts  of  a  newspaper  or  magazine  advertisement. 

3.  Select  from  local  newspapers  examples  of  advertisements  in  which 
there  is  no  introduction.     Also  one  without  a  headline. 

4.  What  is  the  purpose  of  the  headline?     Give  the  three  classes  of  head- 
lines and  examples  of  each. 

6.  What  are  the  advantages  of  the  news  headline? 

6.  Name  the  four  heads  under  which  advertising  copy  may  be  classified. 

7.  Why  should  advertisements  be  written  in  simple  every  day  English 
rather  than  in  academic  language? 

8.  When  should  prices  be  quoted? 

9.  What  do  you  mean  by  "human  interest"  copy? 

10.  Give  an  original  example. 

11.  Why  is  telling  the  truth  absolutely  essential  in  the  preparation  of 
advertising  matter? 

12.  What  is  the  attitude  of  reputable  publications  toward  the  advertise- 
ments of  fake  oil  and  mining  companies  and  get-rich-quick  enterprises? 


CHAPTER  V 
ON  THE  USE  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Before  Cadmus  invented  the  alphabet  pictures  were  used  to 
record  events  upon  wood,  clay  and  stone.  The  oldest  inscrip- 
tions that  have  been  discovered  in  the  ruins  and  on  the  tombs  of 
ancient  civilizations  are  in  picture  form.  Therefore,  in  the  em- 
ployment of  illustrations  in  modern  advertising  we  are  making 
use  of  the  oldest,  the  simplest  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  most 
direct  method  of  communicating  ideas  in  graphic  form.  Pictures 
have  aptly  been  called  the  universal  language  of  the  human  race. 

If  you  will  look  over  the  pages  of  the  weekly  and  monthly 
periodicals  you  will  find  that  most  of  the  advertisements  are 
illustrated.  Out  of  94  advertisements,  many  of  them  full  pages, 
and  half  a  dozen  of  them  double-page  spreads,  in  an  issue  of  the 
Saturday  Evening  Post,  84  contained  pictures.  Of  275  display 
advertisements  in  McClure's  Magazine,  228  were  illustrated.  In 
local  newspaper  advertisements  the  percentage  is  not  so  high. 

Because  of  the  general  use  of  illustrations  it  is  necessary  for  us 
to  know  something  about  the  principles  governing  their  employ- 
ment, how  they  are  designed  and  how  they  may  be  reproduced  to 
the  best  advantage. 

One  of  the  first  questions  that  suggests  itself  in  taking  up  the 
study  of  the  subject  is  this:  What  purposes  do  pictures  serve  in 
advertising?  Some  of  them  are : 

1.  To  catch  the  eye  of  the  reader  and  lead  him  to  peruse  the 
accompanying  message. 

2.  To  familiarize  people  with  the  appearance  of  the  article  or 
the  package  containing  it  so  that  they  may  identify  it  in  the 
stores  and  elsewhere. 

3.  To  show  the  article  in  use. 

4.  To  create  atmosphere,  that  is,  to  indicate,  pictorially,  the 
class  of  people  to  whom  it  appeals  or  scenes  with  which  it  is 
associated. 

36 


ON  THE  USE  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  37 

An  illustration  serves  the  same  purpose  as  a  headline  but  has 
this  additional  advantage — it  will,  and  often  does,  because  of  its 
novelty,  its  artistic  character  or  its  strong  appeal,  attract  greater 
attention.  Sometimes  the  crux  of  the  message  the  advertiser 
seeks  to  deliver  lies  wholly  in  the  picture.  A  seaside  home  and 
hospital  for  crippled  children  in  need  of  funds  to  carry  on  its 
work  placed  an  advertisement  in  several  magazines  in  which  was 
presented  a  picture  of  one  of  its  boy  patients,  "Smiling  Joe," 
strapped  to  a  board.  The  little  fellow  had  a  twisted  and  diseased 
spine  and  in  trying  to  cure  his  deformity  and  restore  him  to  health 
the  physicians  were  obliged  to  bind  his  body  to  the  board  and 
keep  him  in  thart;  position  for  many  months.  Although  the 
story  of  the  boy's  affliction  and  his  wonderful  patience  and 
cheerfulness  und,er  the  trying  ordeal  were  told  in  the  accom- 
panying text,  it  was  the  illustration  showing  "Smiling  Joe" 
with  a  happy  smile  on  his  face  that  touched  the  hearts  and 
opened  the  pocketbooks  of  hundreds  of  contributors  to  the 
hospital  fund. 

In  marketing  food  products  sold  in  packages,  or  beverages,  soap, 
and  many  other  products,  pictures  of  the  articles  add  tremendously 
to  the  pulling  power  of  the  advertisements.  People  become  f  amiliar 
with  their  appearance  and  can  readily  identify  them.  If  a 
hundred  different  brands  of  biscuits  were  displayed  on  the  shelves 
of  a  grocery  store,  nine  out  of  ten  housewives  would  have  no 
difficulty  in  pointing  out  the  package  containing  Uneeda  Bis- 
cuit. The  little  girl  who  asked  the  clerk  for  a  box  of  breakfast 
oats  "with  the  Quaker  man  on  it"  knew  exactly  what  she 
wanted  and  couldn't  be  fooled  with  a  substitute.  We  may  forget 
the  brand  names  of  articles  that  have  been  advertised  but  if  we 
have  seen  pictures  of  the  packages  containing  them  a  few  times 
we  can  pick  them  out  of  a  dozen  others. 

If  you  can  exhibit  the  article  in  use  by  means  of  an  illustration 
you  are  employing  one  of  the  strongest  sales  appeals  available. 
In  marketing  canned  peaches,  for  instance,  if  you  show  a  glass 
dish  filled  with  luscious,  golden-hued  fruit  being  served  as  a 
dessert  at  a  dinner  party,  it  produces  a  far  greater  impression 
upon  the  reader  than  any  text  matter  could.  It  is  one  thing  to 
read  a  description  of  a  thing  and  quite  another  to  see  it.  The 


38  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Chinese  have  a  proverb  to  the  effect  that  once  seeing  a  man  is 
worth  a  thousand  times  hearing  about  him. 

Pictures  are,  of  course,  not  as  attractive  as  the  articles  they 
represent,  but  they  are  a  hundred  per  cent,  better  than  any 
description  in  words  that  can  be  given.  Few  automobile  ad- 
vertisements appear  without  an  illustration  of  the  machine  that 
is  being  exploited.  While  to  the  general  public  one  automobile 
looks  about  the  same  as  another,  each  one  posesses  features  by 
which  it  can  be  identified  several  blocks  away  by  an  automobile 
expert.  No  manufacturer  wants  to  have  his  car  mistaken  for 
that  of  a  competitor.  Therefore  he  shows  a  picture  of  his 
machine  in  his  advertisements  so  drawn  that  its  distinctive 
features  are  emphasized  in  a  telling  way.  The  text  matter,  of 
course,  describes  it  attractively  and  in  detail,  but  after  all  it  is 
the  illustration  that  will  most  impress  the  reader.  Unless  the 
appearance  of  the  car  strikes  him  favorably  he  will  not  care 
much  about  the  details  of  its  construction.  Hence  the  impor- 
tance of  the  picture. 

There  are  other  articles  besides  automobiles  that  are  exploited 
largely  by  means  of  illustrations.  In  selling  high  class  suburban 
homes  pictures  of  the  residences  offered  are  indispensable.  Few 
people  care  to  engage  accommodations  at  summer  hotels  without 
first  knowing  something  about  their  appearance.  When  the 
retail  dry  goods  merchants  introduce  their  spring  or  autumn 
styles  in  women's  hats,  coats  and  suits,  they  rely  upon  illustra- 
tions to  bring  women  to  the  store.  In  appealing  to  the  fair  sex 
advertisers  have  found  the  rotogravure  sections  of  the  Sunday 
newspapers  particularly  effective  because  of  the  superior  quality 
of  the  paper  used,  thus  making  possible  the  employment  of  a 
higher  grade  of  illustrations. 

Illustrations  are  used  to  create  atmosphere  in  exploiting  articles 
that  have  a  high-class  vogue.  One  of  the  leading  manufacturers  of 
first  quality  furniture  employs  pictures  of  beautiful  interiors  to 
display  and  give  class  to  his  creations.  There  is  a  richness  and 
refinement  about  the  settings  that  make  one  feel  that  anything 
from  this  shop  gives  a  certain  distinction  to  the  purchaser.  Cigar- 
ette advertisers  employ  illustrations  of  oriental  scenes,  of  cele- 
brated banquets,  and  of  racing,  yachting  and  other  sporting 


ON  THE  USE  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


39 


3Scts.  a.  Bottle 


HAVE  soft,  fluffy,  glossy,  beautiful  hair— you  know  how 
it  adds  charm  tu  even  the  most  beautiful  face;   and, 
undoubtedly,  you  have  seen  some  of  your  friends  changed  from 
plain,  uninteresting  women  into  creatures  of  real  beauty — all 
by  the  skilful  handling  of  their  hair. 

Perhaps  you  have  wondered  how  such  a  change  could  be 
made — perhaps  it  seemed  almost  miraculous  to  you.  Wait  a 
moment — let  us  whisper  in  your  car — it  probably  was  simply  ii 
liberal  use  of  Danderine-  plus  a  new  way  of  dressing  the  hair. 

Why  Not  Have  Lots  of  Soft,  Fluffy 
Lustrous  Hair  Yourself? 

Danderine  removes  the  dandrnlT — leaves  |he  scalp  clean, 
cool  and  refreshed — brings  back  the  natural  gloss  and  luster  to 
the  hair — makes  it  just  as  beautiful  as  nature  intended  it  to  be. 

Just  Once,  Try  Danderine! 

See  how  much  bottled  hair  beauty,  abundance 
and  gloss  there  is  in  a  single  35-ccnt  bottle. 


At  all  dru      >store>s 
toilet 


An  artistic  and  effective  combination  of  illustration  and  typographical 
arrangement. 


40 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


There  has  been  but  one  supreme  piano  in  the  history  of  music.    In 

the  days  of  Liszt  and  Wagner,  of  Rubinstein  and  Berlioz,  the  pre-  • 

eminence  of  the  Steinway  was  as  unquestioned  as  it  is  today.     It 

stood  then,  as  it  stands  now,  the  chosen  instrument  of  the  masters — 

the  inevitable  preference  wherever  great  music  is 

understood  and  esteemed. 

STEINWAY  6  SONS,  Steinway  Hall,  107-109  E.  14th  Street,  New  York 

Subu'au  Express  Stations  at  llic  Door 


A  fine  example  of  the  appeal  to  sentiment  through  an  artistic  illustration.     In 
every  lover  of  good  music  it  awakens  tender  memories. 


ON  THE  USE  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


41 


OF  PLATINUM 


THE  ROMANCE 


Edison's  phonograph  was  not 
known  in  mythological  times. 
Platinum  is  imperishable. 
Whitehouse  Bros,  of  Cincinnati, 
"The  Jewelry  City,"  have  done 
much  to  make  it  the  matchless 
medium  for  the  jeweler's  art. 
Hard  and  permanent,  brilliant 
and  untarnishable,  more  valu- 
able than  gold,  it  is  the  perfect 
metal  for  jewels,— impcrishably 
perfect. 


IF  ONLY  the  masterpieces  of 
Turner  had  been  painted  in 
permanent  colors!  If  only  the 
Alexandrian  library  had  consist- 
ed of  books  written  upon  stone! 
If  only  the  music  of  Orpheus 
could  be  heard  today ! 
But  Turner's  pictures  were 
painted  with  cheap  colors, 
Caesar  burned  the  priceless 
treasures  of  the  ancients  in  the 
Alexandrian  library,  and  Mr 


WHITEHOUSE  BROTHERS 


JYlakers  of  Patented  <  JtssemBfeJ  Sofifaiivs  and 
Cincinnaii.Ohio      Platinum  ^Jewelry     The  Jewelry  City 


The  art  embellishment  of  Whitehouse  Brothers  jewelry  advertisements  is  of 
an  exceptional  character.  The  ornate  border  with  its  accompanying  illustra- 
tions forms  an  appropriate  frame  for  the  "The  Romance  of  Platinum"  told  in 
the  text  and  adds  greatly  to  its  value. 


42 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


Sensitive  films,  those  walls  of  childish  memory.    The  pictures  they  register 

It  will  pay  you  to  remember  that,  in  the  lighting  of  your  children's  rooms 
Let  sunshine  flood  them  by  day,  and  the  light  of  Edison  MAZDA  lamps 
by  nrght  For  the  light  that  shines  in  children's  rooms  is  magic  stuff —  the 


, .        r  B*ai  ReMirth  Ltbora- 

rams  of  the  General  Hem*  Company.  »nd  by  tony  yftn  at  contm- 
uxu  development.  Biuoo  MAZDA  Ump«  represent  tht  UICM  and 

b«c  u.  Lghimg. 


EDISON  MAZDA 


EDISON  LAMP  WORKS  OF  GENERAL  ELECTRIC  COMPANY 


Pictures  of  children  when  appropriately  introduced  in  advertisements  possess 
a  universal  appeal.  Every  mother  and  father  who  looks  at  the  above  adver- 
tisement will  feel  a  tug  at  the  heart  strings.  The  evening  lamp,  the  little  ones 
saying,  "Now  I  lay  me  down  to  sleep"  at  their  mother's  knee  and  the  shad- 
owy background  form  a  picture  that  will  linger  long  in  the  memory. 


ON  THE  USE  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  43 

events  in  which  some  of  the  prominent  persons  appearing  in  them 
are  represented  as  smoking  the  manufacturer's  brand.  The 
young  man  who  is  a  clerk,  or  who  works  in  a  machine  shop,  or 
drives  a  truck,  is  much  impressed  by  these  pictures  and  concludes 
that  if  the  cigarettes  are  smoked  by  society  leaders,  actors,  and 
well  known  sportsmen  they  must  be  of  high  grade  quality  and 
therefore  worth  buying.  Even  if  they  cost  50  cents  a  box  he 
feels  that  he  is  justified  in  the  extra  expense  by  the  satisfaction 
he  gets  in  being  identified,  even  remotely,  with  such  notable 
consumers  of  this  particular  brand. 

We  are  so  constituted  that  we  often  buy  things  because  they  are 
purchased  by  prominent  people,  provided,  of  course,  they  are 
within  our  means.  Writers  who  understand  this  tendency  take 
advantage  of  it  in  preparing  advertisements.  For  instance,  if  the 
King  of  England,  a  hero  of  the  great  war,  or  a  popular  actress 
uses  a  certain  table  water  they  play  up  the  fact  in  text  and  picture 
because  of  the  influence  it  will  have  upon  the  public. 

Never  use  a  picture  simply  because  it  is  pretty,  odd,  or  striking. 
Advertising  space  costs  too  much  money — sometimes  $5  to  $8 
a  line — to  be  thrown  away  on  illustrations  that  do  not  help  to 
put  the  message  across.  Pretty  girl  pictures  have  been  found 
effective  as  attention  getters  in  advertising  toilet  articles,  femin- 
ine wearing  apparel  and  other  things,  but  in  many  cases  they 
are  out  of  place  or  serve  no  real  purpose.  An  advertisement  of  a 
Western  gas  engine  manufacturer  which  appeared  in  several 
publications  showed  a  very  attractive  looking  young  woman 
standing  by  the  side  of  the  machine.  Much  to  the  surprise  of 
the  advertiser  he  received  twice  as  many  inquiries  concerning 
the  identity  of  the  girl  as  he  did  about  the  gas  engine.  In  using 
the  pictures  of  very  pretty  young  women  or  unusual  illustrations 
of  any  kind  there  is  always  danger  that  the  picture  will  receive 
so  much  attention  from  the  reader  that  he  will  neglect  to  look  at 
the  accompanying  text  matter. 

Many  advertisements  are  spoiled  by  poor  and  meaningless  illus- 
trations. In  these  day's  when  there  are  so  many  high-class  artists 
devoting  their  attention  to  the  preparation  of  commercial  illus- 
trations there  is  little  excuse  for  the  employment  of  stock  cuts  or 
indifferent  art  work.  Unless  you  want  to  get  a  reputation  for 


44  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

cheapness  avoid  the  use  of  poorly  drawn  pictures.  Every  city 
of  50,000  inhabitants,  or  upwards,  contains  at  least  one  photo- 
engraving plant,  the  owner  of  which  can  recommend  the  names 
of  one  or  more  commercial  artists  who  will  execute  any  orders 
you  may  have  to  give. 

Determine  in  your  own  mind  what  kind  of  a  picture  you  want 
and  describe  it  to  the  artist.  Often  he  will  be  able  to  improve 
upon  the  design  you  suggest.  That  is  a  part  of  his  business.  If 
you  are  a  national  advertiser  and  employ  an  agency  to  handle  your 
campaigns  it  will  furnish  the  drawings  as  a  part  of  its  service. 

As  a  general  rule  humorous  illustrations  should  be  avoided.  In  a 
somewhat  extended  experience  we  can  recall  only  a  few  instances 
in  which  pictures  of  this  kind  have  been  appropriate  or  effective. 
Unless  precaution  is  taken  in  the  selection  of  a  subject  a  humor- 
ous picture  may  do  more  harm  than  good.  A  local  merchant  in 
an  Eastern  city  once  ran  an  illustration  showing  an  old  negro, 
nearly  bald,  with  his  mouth  wide  open,  crying  out  something  at 
the  top  of  his  voice.  The  headline  was,  "  Much  Cry  and  Little 
Wool."  It  was  designed  to  create  a  laugh  and  as  an  exposition 
of  that  old  saw  it  was  a  success,  but  it  gave  offense  to  a  very 
worthy  body  of  colored  people  who  were  the  merchant's  custom- 
ers. The  retailer  had  used  the  picture  thoughtlessly,  not 
dreaming  for  a  moment  that  it  would  antagonize  any  of  his  trade. 
It  took  him  a  long  time  to  win  back  the  patronage  of  those 
whom  the  illustration  had  offended. 

A  number  of  years  ago  a  humorous  character  called  "Sunny 
Jim"  was  introduced  in  the  advertisements  of  a  widely  exploited 
breakfast  food.  The  artist  showed  "Sunny  Jim"  doing  all  sorts 
of  clever  stunts,  and  thousands  of  people  each  day  when  they 
picked  up  their  favorite  newspaper  turned  to  the  advertisements 
to  see  what  the  funny  man  was  doing.  After  the  advertising  had 
been  running  for  some  time  the  manufacturer  discovered  that 
the  public  was  so  much  interested  in  the  antics  of  "Sunny  Jim" 
that  it  paid  little  attention  to  the  selling  talk  about  the  breakfast 
food  he  was  exploiting.  From  that  time  on  "Sunny  Jim"  was 
banished  from  his  advertisements. 

The  power  of  pictures  to  influence  voters  in  national  elections 
was  first  demonstrated  in  the  second  Cleveland  campaign.  The 


ON  THE  USE  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


45 


Soap  Jor  your  cWmter  Skin? 


DO  you  know  that  a 
glowing,  smooth,  active 
"winter  skin" — for  children 
and  grown-ups — is  largely  de- 
pendent upon  an  easy-rinsing 
soap? 

In  winter,  of  course,  the 
pores  of  the  skin  are  less 
active  than  in  summer.  If  a. 
lurd-rinsing  soap  remains  be- 
hind in  the  pores,  their  ac- 
tivity  is  further  diminished, 
and  they  cannot  continue 
their  work  of  keeping  the 
skin  soft  and  smooth. 

Tests  made  with  a  number 


of  well-known  toilet  soaps 
proved  Fairy  Soap  to  be  the 
aisiesl-rinsing  soap.  Fairy's 
pure  lather  was  found  to 
cream  thoroughly  in  and  out 
of  pores,  without  sacrificing 
that  important  quality  of 
rinsing  off  cosily,  rinsing  off 
completely. 

We  would  like  to  have 
you  try  this  pure,  easy-rinsing 
Fairy  quality  for  your  "winter 
skin."  But  be  sure  to  make 
the  trial  a  thorough  one  — 
with  both  the  complexion 
and  bath  benefits  in  ivunJ. 


-17OL' 

JL  in  * 


IMPORTANT  FACTS 

*'!r;jtf«Y«liar»  "a  nd  am  ears-i  iasiitz  J«*A 
k;r.wtruiia  winter—  even  i»-«  th*n 


the  jJd  -,rt  winter  ct«iir 
jnuc^  ci  UK.  «fc»n.  nukii«  them  lc*- 

:  of  tK-  sim  Av-  n.* 

- 
SivJ 


,j-*ftr>.>-      •  .;.-•  '-fsr'  - 

ti>  'wrinttT 
"—  hr';-  -  •         -inl  in  the 


Comes  in  bodi  Toil^f  ami  /I.irl. 


FAIRY  SOAP 

^l^i-.^  j/.'M  a  little  Fairii  i/i.i/oi"-  fo».'t 


In  this  advertisement  the  illustration  at  the  top,  showing  the  winter  sports  of 
children,  supplies  the  atmosphere  for  the  message  of  the  text. 


46 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


new  way  to  manicure 

without  cutting  the  cuticle 


clea: 


Ibe 


aggcd  edges  and  hangnail*  vanish! 
How  to  manicure  llic  new  way 

Send  for  the  complete  Manicure 
Set  offered  below  and  have  your  first 
Culex  manicure.  In  the  package  you 
will  find  orange  stick  and  absorbent 


otto 


Wrap  a  little 


the  end  of  the  stick  and  dip  it  into  the 
bottle.  Then  carefully  work  around 
the  base  of  the  nail,  gently  pushing 
back  the  cuticle.  Almost  at  once  you 


After  your  first  Cutex  manicure, 
examine  your  nails.  When  you  see 
how  smooth  the  use  of  Cutex  leaves 
the  skin  around  the  base  of  the  nails 
— how  free  it  is  from  ragged  edges 
and  rough  places  that  make  hangnails, 
you  will  wonder  how  you  ever  got 
along  without  it.  Try  it  today  See 
for  yourself! 

in  30c.  OOc.  and  $1  25  bottles.'  Cutex 
Nail  White  is  30c.  Cutex  Nail  Polish 
in  cake,  paste,  powder, -liquid  or  stick 
form  is  also  30c.  Cutex  Cuticle  Com- 
fort for  sore  or  tender  cuticle  is  30c. 

der  direct  from  us. 

Complete  Manicure  Set  for  15c 

IK  with'lfr  and  wt  will  send  you  tins  c 
plcte    Midget    Manicure    Set,    which 

today     Address 

NORTHAM  WARREN 

114  West  Uih  St 


MAIL  COUPON  WITH  15  CENTS  TODAY 
:  NORTHAM  WARREN 


If  we  can  show  by  illustrations  how  to  use  the  article  we  are  exploiting  we 
enhance  the  readers'  interest  and  make  the  advertisement  more  productive  of 
sales.  The  Cutex  ad  presented  above  is  a  fine  example  of  this  type  of  publicity. 


ON  THE  USE  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  47 

cartoons,  which  were  the  work  of  the  best  artists,  were  printed 
twice  a  week  in  500  daily  newspapers.  They  were  also  enlarged, 
and,  printed  as  posters,  were  put  up  on  billboards  and  dead  walls 
in  all  parts  of  the  country.  Their  effect  upon  the  public  was 
immediate.  Thousands  of  men  who  could  not  read  caught  the 
point  of  these  cartoons  at  a  glance.  Throughout  the  rural 
districts  the  liveliest  interest  was  shown  in  them,  and  after  the 
election  had  taken  place  the  Democratic  leaders  admitted  that 
the  cartoons  had  done  more  to  elect  Mr.  Cleveland  than  the 
stump  speakers. 

One  of  the  insurance  companies — the  Prudential  Insurance 
Company  of  Newark — has  made  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar  famous 
in  the  United  States  through  the  advertisements  it  has  published 
for  many  years  showing  a  picture  of  the  rock  with  the  name  of 
the  company  printed  in  large  letters  upon  it.  As  a  result  it  is 
almost  impossible  for  the  public  to  think  of  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar 
without  associating  with  it  the  Prudential  Insurance  Company. 
It  is  said  that  a  traveler  who  took  the  Mediterranean  trip,  on  his 
return  to  the  United  States  expressed  great  surprise  at  not  seeing 
the  name  of  the  company  outlined  in  white  letters  across  its 
surface. 

Advertisers  are  sometimes  puzzled  to  know  whether  or  not  they 
should  use  pictures  of  themselves  in  their  advertising.  They 
have  seen  the  features  of  W.  L.  Douglas  in  his  shoe  advertise- 
ments for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  They  recall  the  pictures  of 
Lydia  E.  Pinkham,  Gerhard  Mermen,  Dr.  Munyon,  the  Smith 
Brothers,  and  other  less  celebrated  vendors  of  manufactured 
products  who  have  achieved  success  through  printers'  ink,  that 
were  used  in  the  same  way.  As  a  rule  it  is  considered  inadvisable 
to  regularly  employ  the  picture  of  the  advertiser  in  his  business 
announcements.  It  weakens  instead  of  strengthens  the  advertise- 
ment because,  if  used  continuously,  it  suggests  egotism  and  a 
waste  of  space.  Moreover,  the  advertiser  misses  the  mark  at 
which  his  advertising  gun  is  aimed.  He  is  not  engaged  in 
selling  himself  but  his  product.  Public  attention  is  diverted  from 
the  text  to  the  picture,  which  adds  little  to  the  value  of  the  appeal 
and  has  no  selling  force.  Therefore,  why  should  he  employ  it 
in  his  advertising? 


48  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Photography  is  now  generally  utilized  in  securing  suitable 
pictures  for  the  illustration  of  advertisements.  The  ordinary 
photographer,  however,  is  not  successful  in  this  kind  of  work. 
Those  who  specialize  in  commercial  photography  secure  the  best 
results.  They  understand  what  is  needed  to  make  effective 
copy.  Some  of  the  most  productive  illustrations  in  use  are  those 
employed  hi  the  street  car  advertising  of  Omega  Oil.  The 
company  dropped  $400,000  before  it  discovered  that  it  was  using 
the  wrong  kind  of  a  picture —  that  of  a  boy  carrying  a  bag  of  corn 
under  his  arm  as  he  walked  along  the  road,  from  which  the 
kernels  were  dropping  upon  the  ground  only  to  be  gobbled  up  by 
geese  that  were  following  him.  The  trouble  with  the  picture 
was  that  it  was  in  no  way  related  to  Omega  Oil.  But  when  the 
company  introduced  photographs  of  living  models  showing  the 
oil  being  used  to  alleviate  pain,  the  volume  of  sales  rapidly 
increased.  One  of  these  shows  a  little  girl  whose  sore  throat 
is  being  treated  with  an  application  of  the  oil.  Another  reveals 
a  man's  back  which  is  being  rubbed  with  the  oil  for  the  relief  of 
rheumatism. 

The  Washburn-Crosby  flour  advertisement  illustrations  are 
made  from  photographs  of  real  people.  So  are  those  employed  in 
the  Beechnut  products  and  the  Eastman  Kodak  announcements. 
These  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  advertisers  who  have  dis- 
covered that  the  public  is  interested  in  pictures  taken  from  life 
or  nature  more  than  they  are  in  make-believe  representations. 
The  C.  Kenyon  Company,  of  Brooklyn,  since  it  adopted  the 
use  of  living  models  in  preparing  illustrations  for  its  magazine 
and  trade  paper  advertising,  has  increased  its  sale  of  women's 
coats  far  beyond  all  previous  records. 

In  order  to  secure  satisfactory  results  in  illustrations  good 
copy  must  be  furnished  to  the  photo-engraver.  This  means  that 
the  pictures  from  which  the  cuts  are  to  be  made  must  be  clear 
and  distinct.  No  engraver,  no  matter  how  skillfuj  he  may  be, 
can  make  a  good  plate  from  a  poor  photograph.  Sometimes, 
however,  a  photograph  can  be  made  effective  through  retouch- 
ing by  a  capable  artist  who  makes  a  specialty  of  that  kind  of 
work.  By  retouching  is  meant  the  bringing  into  stronger  relief 
the  principal  and  sometimes  the  subordinate  features  of  the 


ON  THE  USE  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


49 


MAZDA 

ffot  the  name  of  a  thing,  but  the  mark  of  a  service" 


A  MAZDA  Lamp  for  every  purpo 


MAZDA  is  the  trademark  of  a  world- 
wide service  to  certain  lamp  manu- 
facturers. Its  purpose  is  to  collect 
and  select  scientific  and  practical 

information  concerning  progress  and  developments  in  the 
art  of  incandescent  lamp  manufacturing  and  to  distribute  this 
information  to  the  companies  entitled  to  receive  this  service. 
MAZDA  Service  is  centered  in  the  Research  Laboratories  of 
the  General  Electric  Company  at  Schenectady,  New  York. 
The  mark  MAZDA  can  appear  only  on  lamps  which  meet  the 
standards  of  MAZDA  service.  It  is  thus  an  assurance  of  quality. 
This  trademark  is  the  property  of  the  General  Electric  Company. 


RESEARCH   LABORATORIES  OF  GENERAL  ELECTRIC  COMPANY 

The  strong  feature  of  this  ad  is  the  skillful  manner  in  which  the  reader's  eye 
is  directed  to  "  MAZDA"  on  the  electric  light  bulb  in  the  illustration.  It  is  al- 
most impossible  to  glance  at  the  page  without  following  the  pointing  finger  to 
the  word. 

4 


50 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


The  strikingly  original  advertisement  of    one  of  the  leading  firms  of  optical 
instrument  manufacturers  in  the  United  States. 


ON  THE  USE  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  51 

photograph.  It  is  expensive  but  adds  so  much  to  the  appearance 
and  drawing  power  of  the  illustrations  that  it  is  money  well 
invested. 

The  drawing  or  photograph  should  always  be  considerably 
larger  than  the  cut  which  is  to  be  made  from  it.  When  this  sug- 
gestion is  followed  the  picture  printed  from  the  cut  will  be  sharper 
and  clearer  in  outline  than  the  original.  Frequently  it  is  neces- 
sary to  rout  out  of  the  surface  of  the  plate  some  of  the  background 
or  unessential  details  in  order  to  bring  out  more  strongly  the 
principal  figures  or  features  of  the  illustration. 

Proofs  furnished  by  the  photo-engravers  should  be  printed  on 
the  same  kind  of  paper  that  is  to  be  used  in  the  publication  in  which 
the  illustration  is  to  appear,  in  order  that  you  may  determine  just 
how  it  is  going  to  look.  Usually  the  proofs  are  taken  on  high 
grade  plate  paper  which,  although  it  gives  the  illustration  its 
full  value,  does  not  give  a  correct  idea  of  its  appearance  when 
printed  on  ordinary  paper.  Unless  the  plate  is  adapted  to  the 
quality  of  paper  that  is  finally  to  be  employed  it  probably  will 
print  poorly.  Examine  the  plate  with  care  and  see  if  the  en- 
graver has  given  you  what  you  want.  Sometimes  it  is  necessary 
to  have  it  etched  deeper  before  it  will  print  satisfactorily  on  the 
press. 

Plates  for  illustrations  are  mounted  on  metal  or  wood  bases — 
preferably  the  former  when  they  are  to  be  stereotyped,  because 
wood  shrinks  and  warps  on  the  steam  table,  thus  making  the 
base  uneven. 

Halftones  are  photographic  reproductions,  usually  on  copper, 
but  sometimes  on  zinc,  of  photographs,  wash  drawings,  pen-and- 
ink  and  other  sketches,  and  even  of  paintings,  etched  by  a 
chemical  process.  A  picture  is  taken  from  the  photograph 
through  a  fine  screen  which  is  only  a  glass  plate  with  lines  en- 
graved upon  it  at  right  angles  to  each  other.  Upon  the  fineness 
of  the  screen  depends  the  quality  of  the  printing  plate.  For 
newspaper  purposes  the  screen  used  is  68 — that  is,  68  lines  to 
an  inch.  For  halftones  that  are  to  be  employed  on  a  high 
grade  of  calendered  paper  a  screen  of  133  to  200  lines  to  the 
inch  is  used.  If  you  will  examine  a  plate  under  a  magnifying 


52  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

glass  you  will  notice  that  there  are  a  great  many  little  dots  which 
vary  in  size  according  to  the  fineness  of  the  screen.  Instead  of 
solid  blacks  and  whites  the  engraver  is  able  to  reproduce  the  vary- 
ing shades  or  tones  of  a  picture — hence  the  name,  "halftones." 

Line  engravings  are  made  from  drawings,  sketches,  etc.,  by  a 
process  of  chemical  etching,  usually  on  zinc  but  sometimes  on 
copper.  In  the  chalk  plate  process  a  highly  polished  steel 
plate  which  is  34e  in.  thick  is  covered  with  a  coat  of  soft  white 
composition  which  gradually  hardens.  By  means  of  steel  tools 
a  drawing  is  made  by  cutting  through  the  soft  composition  to 
the  surface  of  the  steel  plate.  When  the  drawing  is  completed 
it  is  placed  in  a  stereotyping  box  and  a  cast  is  made  from  it, 
the  chalk  plate  serving  as  a  matrix  or  mould.  Molten  stereo- 
type metal  is  poured  in  and  the  result  is  a  plate  reproducing  the 
picture,  which,  after  being  cleaned  and  touched  up,  is  ready 
for  printing.  Line  cuts  are  used  in  newspaper  and  other  work 
where  it  is  essential  to  have  plates  that  will  make  good  impres- 
sions on  coarse  paper  with  rapid  printing. 

Wash  drawings  are  made  with  water  colors  or  India  ink  spread 
lightly  and  evenly  on  drawing  paper. 

Electrotypes  are  copper-faced  duplicates  of  type  matter  or 
cuts.  They  are  far  less  expensive  than  the  original  halftones  or 
line  cuts  from  which  they  are  taken.  They  are  copies  of  originals 
and  therefore  are  not  as  sharp  in  detail. 

A  vignette  is  a  halftone  illustration  in  which  the  background 
shades  off  gradually  into  pure  white. 

In  ordering  a  cut  made  from  a  picture  you  need  indicate  only 
one  dimension,  for  if  it  is  properly  made  the  other  dimension  will 
reduce  in  proportion.  You  can  determine  the  other  dimension 
exactly  by  using  the  following  diagram: 

Take  a  sheet  of  paper  exactly  the  size  of  the  photograph  and 
draw  the  diagonal  line  A-B  from  the  upper  right-hand  corner  to 
the  lower  left-hand  corner.  Beginning  at  the  left,  measure  off 
B-C  to  the  right  on  the  bottom  line  of  the  diagram  exactly 
the  length  of  the  cut  you  want  made.  Draw  from  this  point  a 
perpendicular  line,  C-D,  until  it  touches  the  diagonal.  Then 
complete  the  rectangle  by  drawing  the  line  E-D  parallel  to  the 


ON  THE  USE  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


53 


base  line  until  it  strikes  the  perpendicular  line  at  the  left.     You 
now  have  a  diagram  of  exactly  the  size  of  the  cut  the  engraver 


E 


B 


will  furnish  you.  The  length  of  the  perpendicular  line  C-D 
connecting  the  base  with  the  diagonal  is  the  second  dimension  of 
the  cut. 


Questions 

1.  To  what  extent  are  advertisements  illustrated? 

2.  For  what  four  purposes  are  pictures  used  in  advertising? 

3.  Select  from  a  newspaper  or  magazine  advertisements  that  illustrate 
these  purposes. 

4.  Name  half  a  dozen  articles  that  have  been  successfully  advertised  by 
means  of  pictures. 

5.  What  is  meant  by  "creating  atmosphere"  by  the  use  of  illustrations? 

6.  Give  several  suggestions  on  their  employment. 

7.  Why  should  humorous  pictures,  as  a  rule,  be  avoided? 


54  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

8.  Give  an  example  of  the  improper  use  of  an  illustration. 

9.  Should  advertisers  use  pictures  of  themselves  in  their  announcements? 

10.  Name  several  national  advertisers  who  use  their  own  photographs. 

11.  What  is  a  halftone?     A  line  cut?     An  electrotype?     A  vignette? 

12.  In  ordering  a  cut  made  from  a  picture,  when  one  dimension  is  known, 
how  can  you  determine  what  the  second  dimension  will  be? 

13.  Under  what  circumstances  is  a  "pretty  girl"  picture  appropriate  in 
an  advertisement? 


CHAPTER  VI 
PUTTING  THE  ADVERTISEMENT  INTO  TYPE 

After  you  have  hammered  the  copy  for  your  advertisement  into 
such  shape  that  it  expresses  in  exact  form  just  what  you  want  to 
say,  the  next  step  is  to  put  it  into  an  appropriate  dress  of  type. 
If  you  are  able  to  command  the  services  of  a  high  class  printer 
who  has  made  a  study  of  advertising  typography,  and  therefore 
knows  how  to  adapt  type  to  copy  to  the  best  advantage,  you 
can  safely  entrust  to  him  the  typing  of  any  advertisement  you 
may  wish  to  have  set  up. 

But  as  such  printers  are  few,  even  in  metropolitan  cities,  and 
are  rarely  found  in  the  smaller  towns,  it  is  necessary  for  you  to 
have  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  principles  governing  typo- 
graphical arrangement  to  enable  you  to  tell  any  printer  you  may 
employ  what  kind  of  type  to  use  and  how  to  display  the  copy  to 
secure  balance,  harmony,  stability,  and  produce  action. 

Let  us  start  our  discussion  of  the  subject  with  the  well  estab- 
lished principle  that  the  effectiveness  of  an  advertisement  depends 
largely  upon  the  type  in  which  the  message  is  clothed,  and  upon  such 
an  arrangement  of  its  several  parts  that  the  eye  can  rapidly  take 
in  the  important  facts  presented  and  determine  their  relative  value. 

There  are  many  kinds  of  type,  so  many,  in  truth,  that  the 
beginner  is  bewildered  by  their  number  and  variety,  and  con- 
cludes that  he  will  never  be  able  to  identify  or  use  many  of  them. 
And  he  is  right,  for  the  reason  that  the  kinds  or  families  of  type 
that  are  especially  adapted  to  advertising  display  do  not,  according 
to  some  of  the  best  authorities,  exceed  a  dozen.  Benjamin 
Sherbow  says  that  he  has  used  hardly  more  than  six  in  all  his 
work.  Those  that  have  found  special  favor  are: 

Caslon  Old  Style,  Scotch  Roman,  Bookman  or  Antique,  Chel- 
tenham Bold  and  the  Bodoni  family.  To  these  may  be  added 
a  very  few  others — Kennerley,  Cloister,  Goudy  and  Goudy  Bold, 

65 


56  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

30  Point  Scotch  Roman 

ADVERTISING 

Advertising  Knowle 


24  Point  Scotch  Roman 


ADVERTISING  KN 

Advertising  Knowledge 


18  Point  Scotch  Roman 

ADVERTISING   KNOWLE 

Advertising  Knowlege  is  acqui 


12  Point  Scotch  Roman 

ADVERTISING   KNOWLEDGE  IS  ACQUI 

Advertising  Knowledge  is  acquired  with  years  o 


PUTTING  THE  ADVERTISEMENT  INTO  TYPE  57 

30  Point  Cheltenham  Bold 

ADVERTISING  KN 
Advertising  Knowled 


24  Point  Cheltenham  Bold 


ADVERTISING  KNOW 
Advertising  Knowledge 


18  Point  Cheltenham  Bold 

ADVERTISING  KNOWLEDG 

Advertising  Knowledge  is  acqui 


12  Point  Cheltenham  Bold 


ADVERTISING  KNOWLEDGE  IS  ACQUIRE 
Advertising  Knowledge  is  acquired  with  years 


58  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

30  Point  Bookman 

ADVERTISING 
Advertising  Know 


24  Point  Bookman 


ADVERTISING  K 

Advertising  Knowle 


18  Point  Bookman 

ADVERTISING  KNOWLED 
Advertising  Knowledge  is  acqu 


12  Point  Bookman 


ADVERTISING  KNOWLEDGE  IS  ACQU 
Advertising  Knowledge  is  acquired  with  years  o 


PUTTING  THE  ADVERTISEMENT  INTO  TYPE  59 

30  Point  Bodoni  Bold 

ADVERTISING  KN 
Advertising  Knowled 

24  Point  Bodoni  Bold 

ADVERTISING  KNOWL 
Advertising  Knowledge  is 


18  Point  Bodoni  Bold 

ADVERTISING  KNOWLEDGE  I 
Advertising  Knowledge  is  acquir 


12  Point  Bodoni  Bold 

ADVERTISING  KNOWLEDGE  IS  ACQUIRED 
Advertising  Knowledge  is  acquired  with  years 


60  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

30  Point  Caslon  Old  Style 

ADVERTISING 

Advertising  Know 

24  Point  Caslon  Old  Style 

ADVERTISING  KN 
Advertising  Knowledg 


18  Point  Caslon  Old  Style 

ADVERTISING   KNOWLE 

Advertising  Knowledge  is  acqui 


12  Point  Caslon  Old  Style 

ADVERTISING  KNOWLEDGE  IS  ACQU 

Advertising  Knowledge  is  acquired  with  years  o 


PUTTING  THE  ADVERTISEMENT  INTO  TYPE  61 

30  Point  Bodoni 

ADVERTISING  KNO 
Advertising  Knowledg 


24  Point  Bodoni 


ADVERTISING  KNOWLD 
Advertising  Knowledge  is  a 

18  Point  Bodoni 

ADVERTISING  KNOWLEDGE  IS 
Advertising  Knowledge  is  acquired 


12  Point  Bodoni 

ADVERTISING  KNOWLEDGE  IS  ACQUIRED 
Advertising  Knowledge  is  acquired  with  years  of  e 


62  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Century  Expanded  and  Century  Bold,  which  are  considerably 
employed  by  successful  advertisers. 

The  faces  of  type  just  mentioned  differ  so  materially  in 
design  that  it  is  possible  for  the  ad  writer  to  find  among  them 
faces  that  are  adapted  to  almost  any  advertisement  he  may  wish 
to  construct.  Type,  besides  conveying  thought  through  words, 
can,  through  its  shape  or  design,  express  refinement,  strength,  beauty, 
dignity,  and  even  humor.  Therefore,  by  the  exercise  of  proper 
care  in  the  choice  of  type,  which  someone  has  called  "  uncrystal- 
lized  thought,"  you  can  create  almost  any  kind  of  an  impression 
you  may  desire. 

In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  type  should, 
if  possible,  suggest  by  its  physical  appearance  the  character  of 
the  article  you  are  to  exploit.  For  instance,  in  picking  out  a 
suitable  type  for  a  jewelry  advertisement  we  should  choose  an 
artistic  and  refined  face  like  Caslon  or  Scotch  Roman  because  they 
are  suggestive  of  the  creations  of  the  gold  and  silver  workers  for 
which  we  seek  purchasers.  On  the  other  hand,  neither  of  them 
would  be  at  all  appropriate  for  a  machinery  advertisement 
which  naturally  calls  for  a  more  vigorous  face  like  Bookman 
or  a  type  of  similar  strength. 

Cheltenham,  one  of  the  popular  type  faces  among  advertisers, 
was  designed  a  few  years  ago  by  Ingalls  Kimball,  of  New  York. 
Cheltenham  Bold  is  adapted  to  nearly  every  kind  of  display. 
Its  legibility  and  its  peculiar  adaptability  to  display  are  charac- 
teristics that  highly  recommend  its  use  to  advertisers. 

Caslon,  although  first  cut  in  London  over  a  hundred  years  ago, 
is  a  face  that  is  much  favored  to-day  by  printers  who  like  an  Old 
Style  face  which,  though  heavier  than  some  of  the  old  models,  is 
yet  light  enough  in  design  to  be  suitable  for  booklets,  circulars, 
programs  and  advertisements.  It  is  a  type  possessing  attractive 
features  that  give  distinction  to  all  classes  of  printed  matter  in 
the  production  of  which  it  is  employed. 

Scotch  Roman,  of  later  origin,  is  considered  one  of  the  most 
legible,  precise  and  pictorially  beautiful  of  modern  faces,  as 
distinguished  from  the  Old  Style,  that  we  have. 

Century  Expanded  Roman,  much  employed  in  setting  up  news- 


PUTTING  THE  ADVERTISEMENT  INTO  TYPE  63 

paper  advertisements,  contains  no  hair  lines,  is  clear  in  design 
and  wears  well  whether  used  in  type  form  or  in  plates. 

We  cannot  at  this  time  describe  other  kinds  of  type  in  general 
use  because  of  a  lack  of  space.  Those  students  who  are  suffici- 
ently interested  to  pursue  the  subject  further  will  find  in  the 
public  libraries  and  elsewhere  the  catalogs  of  type  founders  and 
books  on  typography  that  will  furnish  all  the  information  that 
they  may  desire. 

The  kind  of  type  with  which  we  are  most  familiar  is  body 
type — that  in  which  text  matter  in  books,  newspapers  and  mag- 
azines is  set.  It  was  modeled  after  the  letters  used  by  the  ancient 
Romans  in  written  manuscripts  and  in  mural  inscriptions,  and  is 
known  in  the  printing  world  by  that  name.  All  the  faces  used 
in  text  matter  in  books  and  periodicals  are  Roman  and  are 
classified  as  Old  Style  Roman  and  Modern  Roman.  The  Old 
Style  of  today  closely  resembles  the  real  Old  Style  of  long  ago, 
while  the  Modern  resembles  the  style  of  letter  cutting  employed 
subsequent  to  the  introduction  of  the  original  Old  Style.  The 
apparent  difference  between  the  two  is  that  in  Old  Style  there 
is  less  shading  while  in  Modern  Roman  some  of  the  lines  are 
darker  and  stronger. 

Type  is  sometimes  classified  as  light  face,  like  Caslon  or  Scotch; 
monotone,  like  Bookman  or  Antique;  and  bold,  like  Cheltenham. 

How  Type  Sizes  Are  Indicated. — Formerly  the  sizes  of  type 
were  indicated  by  names.  The  smallest  was  known  as  brilliant 
and  the  next  as  diamond.  Then  came  pearl,  agate,  nonpareil, 
minion,  brevier,  bourgeois,  long  primer,  small  pica,  pica,  etc. 
As  there  was  no  fixed  standard  of  sizes  the  type  cast  by  the  several 
foundries  did  not  agree  in  dimensions.  Therefore  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  lock  up  together  in  a  form  brevier,  or  any  other 
size  of  type  made  by  two  or  more  type  founders,  because  of  this 
variation,  without  spending  much  tune  in  "blacksmithing" — 
that  is,  in  using  bits  of  metal  or  pasteboard  to  fill  up  the  spaces 
between  the  type. 

When,  through  the  rapid  increase  in  the  use  of  printed  matter 
that  followed  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  it  became  evident  that 
no  one  type-maker  or  group  of  type-makers  could  hope  to 
monopolize  the  business,  the  type-founders  of  the  United  States 


64  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

got  together  and  adopted  the  Point  System,  which  insured 
absolute  uniformity  in  casting  the  different  sizes.  Under  this 
system  the  measurements  are  based  upon  the  seventy-two  parts, 
or  points,  into  which  an  inch  is  divided.  For  instance,  the  type 
formerly  known  as  nonpareil  is  now  called  "6-point"  or  six 
seventy-seconds  of  an  inch;  brevier  is  " 8-point "  or  eight  seventy- 
seconds  of  an  inch,  and  pica  is  "12-point"  or  twelve  seventy- 
seconds  of  an  inch,  etc.  A  printer  can  to-day  buy  type  from 
any  source  and  be  certain  that  the  sizes  will  be  absolutely 
identical. 

How  Type  Is  Measured. — The  em,  which  is  the  square  of  the 
body  of  any  size  of  type,  is  the  unit  of  measurement  in  computing 
the  cost  of  composition,  the  dimensions  of  pages,  or  for  indicating 
the  size  of  dashes,  quads,  spaces,  etc.  The  en,  which  is  half 
the  size  of  the  body  of  any  size  of  type,  is  used  to  designate  the 
size  of  quads,  leaders,  etc.,  as  an  en-leader,  an  en-quad,  etc. 
In  line  measurement  the  em  of  pica,  12-point  is  used.  There  are 
6  ems  pica  to  the  inch.  Therefore,  a  newspaper  column  2^ 
in.  wide  contains  13  ems  pica. 

One  of  the  fundamental  principles  to  be  observed  in  selecting 
type  for  advertisements  is  that  it  should  be  easy  to  read.  That 
is  why  fancy  faces,  those  in  which  there  are  many  fine  straight 
or  curved  lines,  or  in  which  art  work  is  introduced,  should  be 
avoided.  Plain,  clear  type  can  be  read  by  anyone  who  knows 
the  alphabet.  You  don't  have  to  study  it,  as  you  would  a 
puzzle,  to  identify  the  letters. 

Another  principle  that  should  be  kept  in  mind  is  that  in  an 
ordinary-sized  advertisement  not  more  than  two  or  three,  preferably 
two  faces,  should  be  employed  and  these  should  harmonize  with  each 
other.  Advertisements  containing  half  a  dozen  faces  produce 
a  crazy-quilt  effect  upon  the  mind.  They  look  spotty  and 
inharmonious. 

The  best  examples  of  advertisements  found  in  the  newspapers 
and  current  magazines  owe  their  attractiveness  to  the  use  of  one 
or  two  kinds  of  type.  There  are  so  many  different  sizes,  in- 
cluding italic,  of  the  same  families  that  the  printer  is  able  to 
produce  any  typographical  effect  he  may  choose  through  their 
selection  and  grouping. 


PUTTING  THE  ADVERTISEMENT  INTO  TYPE  65 


The  Spirit  of  New  England 

THE  prosperity  of  present-day  New      original  Plymouth  settlers,  who  bought 
England  is  due  in  no  small  mcas-      up  in  seven  years  all  the  stciek   in  the 
intinuanccof  this  old  spirit      London  Company  which  financed  the 


of  the  bootmakers  of   Boston.    The 
policy  of  "good  work  and  pride  in  it" 


ilony. 

New  England's  reputation  for  stabil- 
ity and  integrity  has  led  many  non- 

with  the  Old  Colony  Trust  Company, 
a  practice  which  has  decided  advantag 


for  Lynn,  Brockton,  Havcrhill,  Boston, 
Manchester,  Auburn  and  Lcwiston. 
So  that  today  over  half  the  nation  is 
shod  by  New  England. 

Not  only  in  the  shoe  industry,  but      explained  in  our  booklet,  ** 
in  other  lines,  the  outstanding  feature       '/>»-•«  «»</  ll'ilh",  mailed  on  reque 
is  soundness,  and  investors  the  country  Come  to  New  England  for  the  Tc 

over  are  appreciative  of  this  quality  in  centenary  of  the  Pilgrims'  Landing- 
New  England  industries— a  heritage  of  and  make  this  Company's  office  your 
the  old  "paymem-m-fuH"  spirit  of  the  banking  headquarters. 


In  typography,  in  the  choice  of  illustration,  in  the  character  of  the  arrange- 
ment and  in  general  design  this  advertisement  of  the  Old  Colony  Trust  Company 
satisfies  the  requirements  for  the  highest  type  of  advertising. 


66 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


z 


n  c 


IN  BRASS 

A  combination  of  zinc  and  copper  gives  mankind  a  wonderful  metal — 
enduring,  rust-resisting,  decorative,  workable— adapted  to  a  thousand 
uses  where  no  other  metal  would  serve.  This  metal  is  brass. 

The  sign  on  your  office  entrance,  the  hardware  on  the  doors,  the 
fittings  in  your  car,  the  andirons  in  your  home,  the  bronze  statue  on 
your  mantle,  the  bed  you  sleep  in,  indicate  the  variety  of  ways  in  which 
it  contributes  to  your  many  needs. 

Zinc  for  brass  has  long  been  an  important  product  of  this  Company. 
The  slab  zinc  from  our  Franklin  ores,  is  the  purest  commercial  metal 
in  the  world,  and  insures  the  durability  and  working  properties  that 
manufacturers  of  high-grade  brass  products  demand. 

We  have  been  producing  zinc  for  more  than  70  years.  Our  sources 
of  supply,  facilities  and  organization  are  such  that  we  are  able  to  supply 
all  industries  with  the  kind  and  quality  of  zinc  they  require. 

THE  NEW  JERSEY  ZINC  COMPANY,  160  fr**i  Smtt,  NW  York 

ESTABLISHED  »<! 

CHICAGO      Mintral  Poini  Zinc  Company,  Mil  Minprttc  Building 

PITTSBURGH:    Tht  Nt«  Jcory  Ziiw  Co.  (of  Pi  I,   14i9  Oli.tr  Buildinj 

Mam/Mlnnr,  ./  Zi»<-  Or/*,    .%»/,«    (SpilHr),    Sf,re,/mn,    Lillafiru,    Sulfliurit 

Jliul.    KillrJ  2ni  Slripi  tnd  flam,    Ziitr  Dult.   Hall  Cair  and  Ziiri  Ckltndl 

The  world's  standard  For  Zinc  productl 


New  Jersey' 

zinc 


In  the  New  Jersey  Zinc  ad  the  text  is  the  thing.  The  story  it  tells  is  interesting 
and  instructive.  It  is  set  in  Caslon,  with  wide  margins  of  white  space,  and  looks 
inviting  to  the  reader. 


PUTTING  THE  ADVERTISEMENT  INTO  TYPE  67 

Elements  of  Display. — Type  is  only  one  of  the  elements  em- 
ployed in  display,  the  purpose  of  which  is  to  bring  out  the  most 
important  facts  of  an  advertisement  and  secure  for  each  its  full 
attention  value.  The  others  are  borders,  illustrations,  and  gray 
and  white  space. 

HOW  fortunate  it  is  for  us 
that  the  men  who  founded 
this  business,  set  out  with  the 
simple  idea  of  trying  to  build  the 
best  car  of  its  class  in  the  world. 

That  clear-cut  determination 
has  led  us  to  adopt  policies 
which  are  careful  and  consci- 
entious, and  manufacturing 
principles  which  are  sound  and 
substantial. 

The  net  result  has  been  a  most 
unusual  and  cordial  relation 
between  ourselves  and  our  public- 
based  on  the  confidence  which 
people  have  learned  to  place  in  the 
Hupmobile  and  in  the  company 
which  builds  it. 

The  ninety  words  in  the  above  Hupmobile  advertisement,  set  in  Caslon  Old 
Style,  occupied  a  full  page  in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post.  Without  display 
type,  an  illustration  or  even  a  name  plate,  the  good  will  message  they  carry  im- 
presses itself  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader.  Each  word  of  this  ad  represents  an 
investment  of  nearly  $67. 


68 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


Display  has  been  defined  as  a  logical  arrangement  of  copy  for 
the  purpose  of  making  things  plain,  for  attracting  attention,  for 
emphasis  and  for  interpretation.  It  depends  for  its  success  upon 
contrast.  Contrast  is  marked  dissimilarity.  In  a  group  of 
several  articles  the  one  which,  because  of  its  size,  shape,  color,  or 
character,  differs  most  widely  from  the  others,  is  most  conspicu- 
ous. In  display  we  try  to  construct  advertisements  in  such  a 
way  that  they  will  stand  out  conspicuously  upon  the  page  on 
which  they  appear.  The  principal  elements  of  contrast  used  in 
display  are  black  and  white,  big  and  little, 
far  and  near,  and  different  faces  of  type. 

Value  of  White  Space. — It  seems  an  ano- 
maly but  it  is  a  fact  that  white  space  is  often 
more  valuable  than  the  other  elements  of 
display  in  attracting  attention.  An  ideal 
display  would  be  a  single  word  in  the  center 
of  a  blank  newspaper  or  magazine  page. 
The  white  space  by  which  it  is  surrounded 
concentrates  attention  upon  the  word.  The 
eye  finds  no  resting  place  until  it  sees  it. 
When  you  add  another  word  the  attention  is 
divided  between  the  two.  The  more  words 
you  place  in  the  space  the  more  minutely 
divided  becomes  the  attention  value  of  each 
individual  word. 

White  space,  judiciously  apportioned,  gives 
to  the  display  lines  or  the  paragraphs  of  an 
advertisement  greater  prominence.  It  fur- 
nishes peaks  upon  which  the  eye  can  rest  in 
traversing  the  page  and  makes  it  easier  for 
the  reader  to  absorb  the  message  of  the  text. 
You  should  never  completely  fill  with  type 
the  space  devoted  to  the  advertisement  for  it 
needs  breathing-space  on  all  sides  in  order 
that  its  full  value  may  be  brought  out.  You 
have  seen  advertisements,  no  doubt,  so 
crowded  with  type  that  they  looked  uncom- 
fortable. You  did  not  stop  to  find  out  what 


Go  to  your  favorite  shop  today 
and  ask  them  to  show  you  the 
three  taffeta  frocks  as  designed 
especially  by  Peggy  Paige  lor 
Peggy  Paige  Oreaa  Week.  . 
The  charm  of  your  youth  and 
beauty  will  be  enhanced  .in 


If  your  favorite  shop  haa  not 
been  fortunate  enough  to  have 
secured  the  exdulive  tale  of 
dresses  fashioned  by  Peggy 
Paige,  write  ua  for  name  of 
local  dealer  and  at  the  same 
time  we  will  send  you  our 
illustrated  Styta  Book.  A* 
dress  Dept  B, 

PEGGY  PAIGE 

Nor  York  C*j 


Oddity  of  size  and 
shape  and  oddity  of 
display  type  in  adver- 
tisements have  a  cer- 
tain desirable  value 
provided  they  are  not 
carried  too  far  or  ap- 
pear too  often. 


PUTTING  THE  ADVERTISEMENT  INTO  TYPE  69 

they  were  about  because  they  were  uninviting  in  appearance. 
All  things  considered  the  advertisement  that  is  most  certain 
to  put  its  message  across  is  the  one  that  is  typographically  easy 
to  read. 

Type  Colors. — The  advertisement  writer  must  study  the  use 
of  black,  white  and  gray  in  order  to  give  the  right  typographical 
tone  to  his  work.  Too  much  black  type  gives  a  somber,  funereal 
appearance  to  the  advertisement.  The  use  of  too  much  very 
light  faced  type  makes  it  look  characterless  and  insipid.  Leaded 


DRINK 

AND 

ENJOY 


Maximum  display  in  minimum  space. 

matter  gives  a  gray  effect  to  the  page.  In  order  to  impart  to  the 
advertisement  the  proper  tone  color  we  should,  if  possible,  know 
the  tone  color  of  the  other  advertisements  that  are  to  appear 
on  the  same  page  with  it.  If  they  have  a  black  effect  then  our 
advertisement  should  be  light  in  tone  so  that  it  will  win  attention 
through  contrast.  A  space  filled  with  small  type,  producing  a 
gray  tone  is  often  effective  if  adjacent  to  advertisements  set 
in  bold  face  type. 

About  Borders. — A  border  is  the  frame  of  the  advertisement. 
It  pulls  its  several  parts  together  and  gives  it  physical  unity  and 
individuality.  A  border  has  also  been  compared  to  a  fence  that 
keeps  the  neighbors  from  encroaching  upon  our  property.  A 
border  is  not  an  absolute  necessity,  its  employment  depending 
upon  the  character  of  the  display.  In  fact,  type  well  squared 
has  a  border  value  of  its  own  and  often  shows  to  greater  advan- 


70  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

tage  through  contrast  with  surrounding  advertisements  in  which 
borders  are  used.  Nine-tenths  of  all  the  national  advertisers 
favor  borders  for  advertisements  occupying  less  than  a  page, 
but  drop  them  in  full  pages. 


SETH  THOMAS 


'E  are  careful  that  the 
name  SETH  THOMAS 
is  placed  only  on  clocks 
possessing  flawless  median- 
ism,  accurate  adjustment  and 
precision  of  balance.  <"*s£> 
Clocks  of  less  perfection  '^D 
would  not  be  worthy  of  such 
a  time -honored  name 


An  example  of  hand  lettering  that  wins  attention  because  of  its  legibility  and 
refinement.  Although  the  advertisement  contains  only  a  few  words  of  text  the 
reader  gets  from  them  a  distinct  idea  of  the  reliability  and  high-class  character 
of  clocks  bearing  itfl  name  of  Seth  Thomas. 

Borders  and  rules  are  furnished  by  type-founders  in  endless 
variety.  They  are  made  on  the  Point  System,  whether  plain  or 
ornamental.  Plain  brass  rule  borders  are  to  be  had  in  various 
sizes  from  3^-point  to  12-point  and  even  greater  thickness.  Those 
most  frequently  employed  are^-point,  1-point,  1^-point,  2-point, 
3-point,  4-point,  6-point,  and  12-point,  the  faces  being  solid 
black. 


PUTTING  THE  ADVERTISEMENT  INTO  TYPE 


71 


Some  pleasing  border  effects  are  produced  by  placing  a  heavy 
and  a  light  rule  together.  Ornamental  borders  frequently  add 
greatly  to  the  attractiveness  of  an  advertisement,  especially  when 


To  27  Men 


MORE  than  350.000  will  read 
this  morning's  Times. 

We  want  to  reach  only  twenty- 
seven  men. 

These  twenty  -seven  men  are 
vitally  interested  in  buying  sugar 
mills  and  engines  for  cane-sugar 
plants  in  Cuba. 

We  want  them  to  find  out  why 
they  should  buy  Hamilton  Sugar 
Mills  and  Engines. 

The  men  who  design  and  build 
Hamilton  Sugar  Mills  and  Engines 
built  Henry  Ford's  60,000  h.  p. 
power  plant  in  Detroit— and  he  put 
it  in  a  glass  case  and  set  it  on  the 
sidewalk  for  the  whole  world  to 
see  that  it  was  good. 

They  built  marine  engines  for 
the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation.- 
—and  while  others  previously  had 
taken  six  weeks  to  cast  and  machine 
one  cylinder,  these  men  built/bur 


complete  2800  n.  p.  marine  engine*, 
a  week — and  they,  too,  were  good 

They  have  built  thousands  of 
power  plants  for  many  industries 
throughout  the  United  States — 
and  engine  Number  One,  built  in 
1882.  is  still  in  perfect  running 
order,  though  it  Jras  passed  through 
a  fire  and  a  flood. 

Best  ef  all,  they  have  built  com- 
plete sugar -mill  equipment  for 
many  Cuban  "Centrals."  They 
have  proved,  by  actual  grinding 
through  big  crop  seasons,  that 
Hamilton  Sugar  Mills  extract  the 
highest  possible  amount .  of  juice 
from  the  greatest  feed  of  cane  at  s 
cost  that  is  small  consistent  with 
the  sure,  steady,  continuous  results 
and  economical  efficiency  of 
operation. 

Each  of  these  twenty-seven  men 
can  get  fullconstructiondetailsfroro 
our  illustrated  catalog. 


THE  HOOVEN,  OWENS,  RENTSCHLER  CO 


tSTAKJSHUM 


Hamilton.  Ohio.  U.  &  A.         New  York  Office:    39  Cortlandt  Street 

C£c»  in  mo*  large  citiw  Representative  in  Ojba.  Martial  Facio,Obr»[>i»  23.  Hav»«« 


Set  in  Scotch  Roman  this  advertisement  shows  what  can  be  done  with  plain 
type  and  white  space  in  securing  effective  display.  The  arrangement  of  the 
text  in  double  column  form,  the  use  of  short,  leaded  paragraphs  and  a  direct 
address  headline,  make  a  combination  that  is  strongly  attractive. 

it  occupies  fairly  large  space.  The  best  of  those  appearing  in  the 
magazines  and  big  city  newspapers  are  hand-drawn  by  high 
class  commercial  artists  who  specialize  upon  such  work. 


72 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


In  such  cases  the  borders  not  only  furnish  an  artistic  frame 
for  the  advertisements  but  serve  to  strengthen  their  appeal 
through  the  clever  introduction  of  figures,  illustrations  or  sug- 
gestions relating  to  the  articles  exploited.  A  Wrigley  Chew- 


OFF1CERS 

GERHARD  M.  OAHL 

Prnfljc* 

LINDSAY  RUSSELL 
Ch«trnUM.  Board  of  Dirteforl 
AUGUST  «LMONTM€ai 

eUGBNB  C.  WORDEN 

SmctirT 
DOUGLAS  L.  DUNBAR 

AIM.  10  Prctldcnl 
OSCAR  E.  RILBYH<>< 

BANKERS  TRUST  CO. 


H  ami  I  to 

Gerard  Swopc 

Jacob  H.  Schiff1 
Herbert  S.  Houi.o* 

wfftffm 

0*o  J   Baldwin 
JttmMlLUorM 

Wm'.'m  North  DoSM 

R.  Ichlnomiy* 

Dr.  Jokichi  TakmniM 

Hon.  El'bert  HP  G*ry 


"  Called  "The  Gem 
of  the  World" 


NO  traveler  to  Japan  should  miss  a  trip  through 
the  Inland  Sea.  Rich  as  Japan  a  in  scenic  beauty, 
the  natural  grandeur  of  this  fairy  waterway  excels  all 
eke.  240  miles  from  East  to  West  and  from  3  to  30 
miles  from  North  to  South  its  four  channels  com- 
municate with  the  outer  sea. 

The.  shores  of  granite  rock  are  splashed  with  gaily 
colored  flowers.  The  islands  which  dot  the  basin 
contain  many  beautiful  parks,  all  the  highest  examples 
of  the  Japanese  landscape  gardener's  art.  The 
waters  of  the  Inland  Sea,  usually  smooth  as  a 
mirror,  contain  more  than  one  hundred  varieties 
of  fish. 

An  ever-changing  panorama  of  scenic  beauty  delights 
'the  traveler.  The  Sacred  Island  of  Miyajima  with  its 
great  Torii  Gate  rising  from  the  water  to  a  height  of 

numerous  side  trips  about  the  islands  for  those  who 
wish  a  more  extended  tour  than  that  offered  by  the 
main  line  steamships.  Numerous  ferries  and  launches 
provide  transportation  and  overnight  accommodations 
may  be  had  in  the  native  inns. 

Japan  through  the  Japan  Society,  an  organization  of 
1400  Americans,  which  places  at  your  disposal  its 
Trade,  Travel,  Service.  News  and  Publication  De- 
partments and  its  Trade  Bulletin, 

How  may  we  serve  you  ? 


Japan  Society 


<Or«Mixcd  1907) 

165  Broadway  •       New  York 


Simplicity  and  quiet  charm  characterize  this  Japan  Society  advertisement.  It 
wins  attention  by  its  illustration  and  the  reader's  interest  is  aroused  by  well 
written  text. 


ing  Gum  ad,  occupying  an  entire  page,  had  for  its  border  small 
pictures  of  packages  of  gum  printed  in  colors.  In  a  highly 
artistic  design — one  that  challenges  attention  because  of  its 
beauty  or  its  ingenious  character — there  is  danger  that  it  will 
so  dominate  the  advertisement  itself  that  the  reader  will  over- 


PUTTING  THE  ADVERTISEMENT  INTO  TYPE 


73 


look  the  text  and  entirely  miss  its  message.     The  same  thing 
happens  in  the  use  of  illustrations.     If  they  are  strikingly  beauti- 


'"Best  in  the  Long  Ttun 


MANY  motorists  think 
that  the  outer  casing 
holds  the  air.  But  it  doesrit! 
It  holds  the  tube  which  holds 
the  air.  And  the  quality  of 
the  tube  spells  the  value  of 
the  tire  in  service. 

The  safest  economy  is  to 
equip  with  Goodrich  Red 
Inner  Tubes  in  the  first  place. 


INNER 
TUBES 


TV  a  F.  GooJmh  Xubter  OM0M  Mm**  Ohi» 
Makers  of  Ike  SIIVIATOWM  Card  Tin 


Hand  lettering  is  used  to  advantage  in  this  Goodrich  ad.  The  wide  white 
Bpace  surrounding  the  reading  matter  throws  the  advertisement  into  promi- 
nence and  greatly  enhances  its  attention  value. 

ful  or  unusual  but  do  not  directly  relate  to  the  article  that  is 
being  exploited,  they  absorb  so  much  of  the  reader's  attention 
that  little  is  left  for  the  story  in  the  text. 


74 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


PV6UU    -JttXlKli-ra.UUJEU'BlA.     TteSUAY    I1UB51AU.     AlAit'Blf    3. 


5Sg.ir;r      WANAMAKER-S      »-.< 


WANAMAKER-S      •—= 


WANAMAKER'S 


At  Wanamaker's — Where  the  Great  Furniture  Sale  Is 


Welcome  to  the  Guests  of  the 
Summer  Resorts 


100  Women's  Summer  Drexe* 


.^^ 


Speci*.IIyPriced  Waists 


Women's  Fine  Fashion  Pumps 
J^lsiUy  Priced  it  $12 

^&^5sSJ5SiiB£S^±«.Ti 


Many  Men  Need 

New  Summer 

Suits 


Men's  Panaro; 
i          -  •  Hats  at  $5 


Diamond  Jewelry 


Women's  Terry 

Bathrobes 


Whh  Good  Soap 

5jr,irT.*! 


An  August  Rug  Sale  in  Which  You  Can 

Get  Genuinely  Fine  Rugs  for 

Low  Prices 

Orlett*!  nun.  sbuiotnl  ooonetk  ran.  Snrjma  ML 
**eei  n*  rocs.  >»e*se.  Kre« no*,  il  an  O4.U 


BI.rt.-Gn...>  Wntm 

ufiM.i'.:u™ 


"Only   One  Way  to  Realize  What  a 

Marvelous  Thing  Is  This  August 

Furniture  Sale 

Come  In  and  See  the  Goods! 

The  best  furniture  sale  from  your  point  of  view  Is  the 
sale  that  has  the  furniture  you  want  at  the  lowest  price*  that 
ary  one  who  values  real  quality  and  real  economy  is  safe  in 
paying.. 

This  Is  the  Sale 

This  is  the  sale  for  people  who  want  to  feel  certain  about 
the  quality  of  the  furniture  they  buy  and  who  want  to  feel 
equally  certain  about  the  genuineness  of  the  economy  they 
effect  in  the  buying  of  it- 

.  The  Wanamaker  Furniture  Sale  has  always  been  essen- 
tially and  pre-eminently  the  sale  of  real  quality  and  real 
economy. 

Today,  more  than  ever,  it  fives  up  to  that  description. 

The  finest  furniture  made  in  America  and  some,  of  the 
finest  pieces  made  in  Europe  are  here  in  an  assortment  with- 
out a  rival  either  in  America  or  Europe. 

There  is  not  a  maker  of  nne  furniture  in  the  country  who. 
js  not  anxious  to  have  his  goods  on  these  floors. 

The  stock*  as  you  see  them  represent  the  pick  and 
choice  of  the  oytput  of  the  best  shops  in  the  land,  and,  no- 
doubtedly.  they  look  it 

It  is  not  only  a  pleasure  to  go  through  them,  but  some- 
thing of  an  education  also. 

The  beauty  of  them,  tho  fineness  of  the  woodsmithing. 
the  charm  of  the  desi#i$  and  theclevemess and skillof  inte- 
rior and  exterior  cabinet  craft  are  an  impressive  object  les- 
son on  the  marvelous  development  that  has  taken  place  in 
the  art  of  home  furnishing  in  America  within  comparatively 
recent  years. 

The  one  factor  above  all  others  responsible  for  this  erer- 
rising  standard  is  the  Wanamaker  Furniture  Sale, 

It  has  spread  the  light  regardingfurniture  qualities,  .?:ir- 
niture  beauties  and  furniture  values..  And  it  must  meet  the 
Dew  demand  resulting  from  the  newer  knowledge  of  furni- 
ture and  the  furnishing  arts  as  no  other  sale  can  meet  them, 
because  the  people  have  made  it  the  greatest  sale  of  any  kind 
in  the  world,  and  they  must  have  good  reason  for  doing  so. 
The  Three  Chief  Division* 

The  Fifth  Floor  with  all  Its  lovely  and  luxurious  p(«cw  for  tMnf 

The  Sixth  Floor  contains  a  wonderful  a<rr«aire  of  bedroom  and 
dining-room  Euita  ranging  all  th«  way  from  the  good -looting  and 
:  AfUm  reproduction—* 


ta  Urrt  r. 

,ony  of  them  charm. 

The  wicker  furniture  is  shown  In  fine  amplitude  on  the  S«vi 
Floor.  All  our  furniture  It  in  the  Hie,  and  price*  Iv  to  50  per  c 
leaathan  regular. 


.    

n  novel  and  exc!  uti ve  l*.y  l«a, 

The  wicker  furniture  is  ahown  In  fine  a 


A  typical  full-page  Wanamaker  ad  set  in  Century  Expanded  Roman.  Note 
the  attractive  arrangement  of  the  text  matter  and  the  free  use  of  informative 
headlines.  Wanamaker's  ads  are  always  interesting  because  they  are  written 
with  that  end  in  view. 


PUTTING  THE  ADVERTISEMENT  INTO  TYPE  75 

Type  is  set  solid  or  leaded.  Leads  are  strips  of  metal  varying 
in  thickness  from  1-point  to  6-point,  which  are  inserted  between 
the  lines  of  type,  the  amount  of  leading  depending  upon  the 
character  of  the  advertisement. 

Very  small  type,  such  as  5-  and  6-point,  should  not  be  leaded 
more  than  1-point;  8-point  type  does  not  require  more  than 
2-point  leads.  In  using  the  larger  faces  heavier  leads  can  be 
employed.  For  instance,  in  18-point  type,  6-point  slugs  are 
used  if  a  very  open  appearance  is  desired.  The  advantages 
derived  from  leading  are  that  in  separating  the  lines  of  type  the 
white  space  makes  the  type  easier  to  read,  and  gives  the  text  a 
more  inviting  appearance.  In  farm  papers  and  mail  order 
publications  the  text  matter  of  the  advertisement  is  often  set 
solid,  the  object  being  to  crowd  into  the  space  as  much  informa- 
tion about  the  product  as  possible.  In  other  mediums  leads  are 
generally  employed. 

Common  sense  is  as  much  a  necessity  in  achieving  success  in 
advertising  as  in  any  other  business.  A  knowledge  of  technique 
is,  of  course,  necessary,  but  unless  it  is  employed  with  good 
judgment  and  a  fair  understanding  of  what  constitutes  good 
taste,  any  campaign,  no  matter  how  extensive  it  may  be,  may 
fail  to  produce  the  results  for  which  it  was  undertaken. 

Questions 

1.  Upon  what  does  the  effectiveness  of  an  advertisement  largely  depend? 

2.  Name  the  families  of  type  that  are  most  popular  with  advertisers. 

3.  What  can  type  express  through  its  shape  or  design? 

4.  What  type  would  you  use  in  a  jewelry  advertisement? 
6.  What  is  meant  by  "  bold  face?  " 

6.  How  are  the  sizes  of  type  indicated? 

7.  How  is  type  composition  measured? 

8.  What  two  principles  should  be  kept  in  mind  in  selecting  type  for  an 
advertisement  ? 

9.  What  are  the  elements  of  display? 

10.  How  does  white  space  add  to  the  strength  of  an  advertisement? 

11.  What  effect  do  leads  have  upon  the  color  of  a  page? 

12.  For  what  purposes  are  borders  employed? 


SIZES  OF  TYPE—  SOLID 

INCHES 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

POINT 

POINT 

POINT 

POINT 

POINT 

POINT 

POINT 

POINT 

1 

69 

47 

38 

32 

28 

21 

17 

14 

2 

138 

94 

76 

64 

56 

42 

34 

28 

4 

276 

188 

152 

128 

112 

84 

68 

56 

6 

414 

282 

228 

192 

168 

126 

102 

84 

8 

552 

376 

304 

256 

224 

168 

136 

112 

10 

690 

470 

380 

320 

280 

210 

170 

140 

12 

828 

564 

456 

384 

336 

252 

204 

168 

14 

966 

658 

532 

448 

392 

294 

238 

196 

16 

1104 

752 

608 

512 

448 

336 

272 

224 

18 

1242 

846 

684 

576 

504 

378 

306 

252 

20 

1380 

940 

760 

640 

560 

420 

340 

280 

22 

1518 

1034 

836 

704 

616 

462 

374 

308 

24 

1656 

1128 

912 

768 

672 

504 

408 

336 

26 

1794 

1222 

988 

832 

728 

546 

442 

364 

28 

1932 

1346 

1064 

896 

784 

588 

476 

392 

80 

2070 

1410 

1140 

960 

840 

630 

510 

420 

32 

2208 

1504 

1216 

1024 

896 

672 

544 

448 

84 

2346 

1598 

1292 

1088 

952 

714 

578 

476 

86 

2484 

1692 

1368 

1152 

1008 

756 

612 

504 

SQUARE 

SIZES  or  TYPE  —  LEADED  with  2-point  leads 

INCHES 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

POINT 

POINT 

POINT 

POINT 

POINT 

POINT 

POINT 

POINT 

1 

50 

34 

27 

23 

21 

16 

14 

11 

2 

100 

68 

54 

46 

42 

32 

28 

22 

4 

200 

136 

108 

92 

84 

64 

56 

44 

6 

300 

204 

162 

138 

126 

96 

84 

66 

8 

400 

272 

216 

184 

168 

128 

112 

88 

10 

500 

340 

270 

230 

210 

160 

140 

110 

12 

600 

408 

324 

276 

252 

192 

168 

132 

14 

700 

476 

378 

322 

294 

224 

196 

154 

16 

800 

544 

432 

368 

336 

256 

224 

176 

18 

900 

612 

486 

414 

378 

288 

252 

198 

20 

1000 

680 

540 

460 

420 

320 

280 

220 

22 

1100 

748 

594 

506 

462 

352 

308 

242 

24 

1200 

816 

648 

552 

504 

384 

336 

264 

26 

1300 

884 

702 

598 

546 

416 

364 

286 

28 

1400 

952 

756 

644 

588 

448 

392 

308 

30 

1500 

1020 

810 

690 

630 

480 

420 

330 

32 

1600 

1088 

864 

736 

672 

512 

448 

352 

34 

1700 

1156 

918 

782 

714 

544 

476 

374 

36 

1800 

1224 

972 

828 

756 

576 

504 

396 

Table  for  ascertaining  the  number  of  words  to  square  inches.  Use  of  this  table  in  lay- 
ing out  booklets  and  catalogs  will  not  only  save  time  but  will  minimize  the  chance  of  a 
miscalculation. 


CHAPTER  VII 
ADVANTAGES  OF  COLOR  IN  ADVERTISING 

The  use  of  color  in  advertising  has  become  so  popular  among 
national  distributors  of  merchandise  and  its  value  so  generally 
recognized  that  it  is  important  that  you  should  give  the  subject 
careful  consideration.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  everybody, 
from  the  baby  in  its  mother's  arms  to  the  old  man  whose  race  is 
nearly  run,  loves  color.  The  primitive  savage  and  the  highest 
type  of  civilized  man  are  attracted  by  it.  Through  its  prodigal 
employment  Nature  has  made  the  world  a  vista  of  enchanting 
beauty.  It  is  because  of  this  universal  appeal  of  color  that 
advertisers  have  found  it  a  powerful  means  for  influencing  the 
buying  public. 

Color  Valuable  in  Three  Ways. — Color  is  valuable  in  advertis- 
ing in  three  ways:  First,  for  attracting  attention;  second,  in 
presenting  the  characteristic  features  of  an  article  which  will 
impress  and  influence  the  buyer;  and,  third,  in  reproducing  the 
exact  appearance  of  the  containers  in  which  the  article  is  sold. 

We  have  already  seen  how  typographical  display  and  illustra- 
tions have  increased  the  attention  value  of  advertising  matter  by 
introducing  the  element  of  contrast.  By  the  addition  of  color 
both  of  these  factors  have  been  raised  to  the  highest  degree  of 
effectiveness  in  their  power  of  appeal. 

The  magazine  publishers  were  among  the  first  to  discover  the 
pulling  force  of  color  when  they  began  using  it  on  their  front 
covers.  The  immediate  result  was  the  stimulation  of  news-stand 
sales.  Advertisers  quickly  saw  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by 
the  employment  of  color  in  their  own  announcements  on  the  back 
pages  of  these  periodicals,  and  it  was  not  long  before  they  were 
given  the  privilege  of  using  it.  Although  a  much  higher  rate 
was  charged — in  some  cases  double  what  they  had  paid  before — 
they  considered  it  a  good  investment  on  account  of  the  unusual 

77 


78  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

attention  their  advertisements  received  from  the  public  and  the 
big  increase  in  sales  that  followed  their  appearance. 

Colored  Inserts. — The  demand  for  back  cover  pages  soon 
became  so  great  that  it  far  exceeded  the  supply.  Then  the 
publishers  introduced  the  use  of  colored  inserts,  so-called  because 
they  were  printed  or  lithographed  on  coated  paper  by  concerns 
specializing  in  that  kind  of  work,  and  tipped  in  the  magazine 
when  it  was  being  bound.  During  the  last  few  years  color 
printing  has  been  perfected  to  such  a  degree  that  the  weekly 
magazines  now  print  advertisements  in  several  colors  on  their 
regular  presses.  The  effects  secured  in  this  way  on  calendered 
paper  are  almost  as  good  as  when  they  were  struck  off  on  coated 
paper  on  slower  presses. 

High-grade  Art  Work  Necessary. — In  preparing  magazine 
advertisements  that  are  to  be  printed  in  colors  too  much  stress 
cannot  be  laid  upon  the  importance  of  having  the  design  and 
illustrations  prepared  by  high-class  artists.  The  cost  of  color 
printing  and  of  space  in  the  best  periodicals  is  so  great  that  it  is  a 
waste  of  money  to  use  second-class  art  work.  Color  will  not  make 
a  poorly  drawn  picture  or  cheap-looking  typographical  layout 
effective,  but  it  will  enormously  increase  the  attention  value  of 
high-grade  illustrations  and  artistically  arranged  type  displays. 

Effectiveness  of  Color  Advertising. — Before  discussing  the 
technical  principles  involved  in  the  employment  of  color  let  us 
consider  some  of  the  practical  advantages  to  be  derived  from  its 
use.  One  of  the  best  examples  of  its  superior  sales  compelling 
force  when  applied  to  advertising  is  to  be  found  in  the  experience 
of  a  Chicago  mail  order  house  that  brought  out  two  catalogs  which 
were  precisely  alike  except  that  one  was  printed  in  colors  and 
the  other  in  black  and  white.  When  the  results  were  checked 
up  a  few  months  later  it  was  discovered  that  the  one  printed  in 
colors  had  produced  fifteen  times  as  many  sales  as  the  one  in 
black  and  white. 

The  advertising  manager  of  the  largest  manufacturer  of 
cameras  and  photographic  materials  in  the  United  States  has 
stated  that  color,  in  conjunction  with  position,  is  worth  all  it 
costs  in  popularizing  photography. 

The  head  of  one  of  New  York's  most  important  advertising 


ADVANTAGES  OF  COLOR  IN  ADVERTISING  79 

agencies  has  said  that  "  colors  are  of  tremendous  value  in  ad- 
vertising when  applied  in  the  right  way.  But  their  mission  is 
arbitrary.  They  appeal  to  the  vision.  Their  greatest  value — 
maybe  their  only  value — in  commercial  advertising  is  to  visualize 
attractively,  or  graphically,  or  both." 

Earnest  Elmo  Calkins,  the  author  of  the  "  Business  of  Adver- 
tising,"  declares  that  "only  a  few  kinds  of  advertising  demand 
color  as  such.  It  is  the  innate  appeal  of  color  itself  rather  than 
its  specific  use  that  makes  a  selling  appeal.  Most  color  advertis- 
ing is  done  largely  to  get  a  preferred  position  on  the  back  of  a 
magazine,  and  then,  having  such  a  position,  which  has  a  certain 
poster  opportunity,  to  make  an  advertisement  in  color  that  will 
have  a  long  distance  appeal." 

The  advertising  manager  of  a  prominent  silverware  manu- 
facturing company  asserts  that  he  gets  better  results  from  the 
use  of  black  and  white  in  advertising  the  company's  products, 
but  admits  he  has  found  colors  to  be  of  great  value  in  creating 
the  atmosphere  of  the  Colonial  period  in  which  the  silverware  was 
first  produced. 

What  Color  Does. — Color  gives  more  snap,  more  vitality  and 
more  persuasion  to  the  advertising  appeal.  It  has  the  same  effect 
upon  the  eye  as  music  has  upon  the  ear.  Harmony  in  color  is 
analogous  to  harmony  in  sound.  Color  enables  the  advertiser 
to  present  the  physical  characteristics  of  his  merchandise.  It  is 
especially  useful  in  advertising  fruit,  vegetables  and  other  food 
products.  How  much  more  attractive,  for  instance,  is  an  illus- 
tration showing  a  glass  dish  filled  with  ripe  red  strawberries  or 
luscious  yellow  peaches,  when  printed  in  the  colors  that  Nature 
gave  them  under  sunny  summer  skies,  than  when  printed  in  cold, 
black  and  white. 

Compare  the  photograph  of  a  young  woman  with  a  portrait 
painted  in  color  and  note  the  difference.  The  first  is  lifeless  and 
flat.  There  is  nothing  about  it  that  stirs  the  emotions.  The 
second,  on  the  other  hand,  presents  in  an  impressive  way  the 
physical  charms  of  the  original.  You  note  the  glow  of  youthful 
color  in  her  cheeks,  the  dark  blue  of  her  eyes,  and  the  golden 
sheen  of  her  hair,  and  from  them  you  obtain  an  accurate  idea 
of  just  how  she  looks  in  the  flesh.  If  you  were  given  the  choice 


80  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

of  ownership  of  one  of  the  pictures  you  would  unhesitatingly  take 
the  painting. 

The  National  Biscuit  Company's  early  use  of  color  in  its 
poster  advertising,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  familiarize  the 
public  with  the  Uneeda  Biscuit  package,  was  a  strong  factor  in 
creating  sales  for  that  product.  The  purple  wrapper  with  its 
white  lettering  and  the  Inner  Seal  trademark  on  the  ends  were 
so  faithfully  reproduced  on  billboards  all  over  the  country  that 
persons  who  could  not  read  had  no  difficulty  in  identifying  the 
package  on  the  grocers'  shelves. 

By  the  use  of  color  wall  paper  manufacturers  are  able  to  show 
the  possibilities  of  their  goods  for  decorative  purposes  by  means 
of  photographic  reproductions  of  the  walls  of  various  rooms 
that  are  covered  with  the  different  patterns  of  paper  they 
produce. 

Weavers  of  carpets  and  rugs,  and  manufacturers  of  silk,  cotton 
and  woolen  fabrics  can,  through  the  employment  of  color,  give 
the  trade  a  correct  idea  of  their  quality  and  appearance.  Manu- 
facturers of  clothing  for  men  and  women  have  found  it  invaluable 
in  arousing  and  sustaining  an  interest  in  their  goods.  The  rail- 
roads have  greatly  increased  their  tourist  travel  by  presenting  in 
natural  colors  the  beautiful  scenes  of  mountains  and  lakes 
along  their  several  routes. 

How  Colors  Aid  Salesmen. — Traveling  salesmen  representing 
some  lines  of  business  now  carry  photographs  of  the  merchandise 
they  handle  printed  in  color,  thus  saving  heavy  baggage  and 
express  charges  on  sample  trunks,  and  the  rent  of  sample  rooms 
in  hotels.  These  photographs  reproduce  the  appearance  of  the 
articles  so  accurately  that  in  the  case  of  textiles  the  merchant 
can  obtain  from  them  a  correct  impression  of  all  their  character- 
istics except  those  that  are  only  revealed  through  the  sense  of 
touch. 

Colors  are  also  employed  to  show  the  grain  of  the  different 
kinds  of  wood  used  in  the  manufacture  of  furniture.  Manu- 
facturers of  cash  registers,  phonographs  and  pianos  have  found 
that  the  application  of  colors  to  the  illustrations  in  their  catalogs 
and  booklets  has  helped  sales,  because  from  them  the  prospective 
buyer  can  get  as  accurate  an  idea  of  how  they  look  as  he  would  if 


ADVANTAGES  OF  COLOR  IN  ADVERTISING 


81 


FAIRY  SHIP  borne  upon  -waves  of 
foam. ..The  Fairy  Queen  commander...  Upon 
the  prow  her  willing  crew  unfurls  the  brilliant 
star-clad  sail. . .  Pearls  in  great  ropes  and 
jewels  priceless  hang  o'er  the  stde...and  in  the 
hold  a  cargo  fraught  with  charm. ..The  winds, 

hed  with  fragrance  rare,  cling  to  the  Fairy 
Ship. ..as  if  to  test  the  beauty  held  within. 

Thus  we  may  well  ascribe  the  charm  of 
cDjer-KiiS,  brought  to  you  from  Ft 
pcrfec  honed*  smartness. 


The  full  beauty  of  this  artistic  creation  can  only  be  appreciated  when  seen  in 
the  brilliant  colors1  of  the  original  Djer-Kiss  advertisement  which  appeared  in 
several  high-class  magazines  and  theater  programs. 
6 


82 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


In  the  rich  colors  of  the  original  this  advertisement  was  a  work  of  art.  While 
admiring  the  beauty  of  the  young  woman  and  the  lusciousness  of  the  fruit  you 
are  not  allowed  to  forget  that  it  is  an  advertisement  of  Adams'  Gum. 


ADVANTAGES  OF  COLOR  IN  ADVERTISING  83 


The  Wesson  Oil  people  found  this  advertisement,  when  printed  in  colors,  one  of 
the  most  appealing  and  resultful  they  have  yet  published. 


84 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


WILSON 


MAM 


THIS  picture  is  from 
an  actual  photograph. 
It  shows  the  quality  that  is 
"Certified"  in  these  hams. 

We  can  certiiij  it  be- 
cause we -select  the  hams, 
give  them  our  slow,  mild 
cure  and  smoke  them  to 
the  last  touch  of  perfec- 
tion in  flavor. 


CERTIFIED"  quality 
\^r  means  hams  that  cook 
better,  slice  in  tender, 
tempting  style — wafer- 
thin  or  as  thick  as  you 
like — and  have  a  flavor 
that  is  unapproachable. 

We  will  be  glad  to  send  you  free 
a  copy  of  "Wilson's  Meat  Cook- 
ery"— our  book  showing  how  to 
buy  and  cook  meats  economically. 


Address  Wilson  &  Co.,  Deft.   1143,  Chicago 


C7 


The  artist's  work  on  the  picture  of  the  ham  in  the  original  of  this  Wilson  ad- 
vertisement was  so  well  done  that  when  reproduced  in  natural  colors  the  slices 
looked  like  the  real  thing  and  made  a  strong  appeal  to  the  appetite. 


ADVANTAGES  OF  COLOR  IN  ADVERTISING 


85 


DEPENDABILITY 


ATLAS-WHITE 
for  the  finish  coat  of  stucco  can 
be  depended  upon  for  the  purest, 
permanent  white  when  used  with 
white  sand  alone:  and  for  highest 
accentuation  of  color  tones  when 
used  with  color  aggregates— one 
of  the  reasons  why  so  many 
eminent  architects  specify  Atlas. 


THE  ATLAS  PORTLAND  CEMENT 
COMPANY 


The  illustration  in  the  original  advertisement  was  printed  in  warm,  contrasting 
colors  which  threw  into  relief  the  white  front  wall  of  the  quaint  old  house  and 
emphasized  the  value  of  Atlas  White. 


86 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


How  to  keep  Bread  fresher 

YOUR  bread  can't  keep  "fresh" — even 
for  a  day — in  a  stale  bread  box.     Mere 
scalding  with  hot  water  is  not  'enough. 

A  tablcspoonful  of  Gold   Dust  t 
of  hot  water  takes  wonderful  ear 
Boxes  because-  Cold   Dust   e 
every  tiny  particle  of  grease  in 
nits.  And,  very  imferMtu,  it 
pletcly.  Now  staid  with  hot 
sun,  il  possible. 

With  this  simple  Gold  Dust  treatment  you 
never  need -worry  about  stale  or  "mouldy" 
bread  boxes.  And  your  "staff  of  lite"  needs 
the  best  of  care,  doesn't  it? 


tn»  do  your  work  1 


In  this  advertisement,  occupying  a  full  page  in  women's  magazines  and  printed 
in  color,  some  of  the  many  uses  of  Gold  Dust  are  demonstrated  in  illustrations. 
The  package  itself  is  prominently  displayed.  The  text  supplies  additional  in- 
formation that  stimulates  interest  in  the  product. 


ADVANTAGES  OF  COLOR  IN  ADVERTISING  87 

he  visited  the  factory  or  the  agent's  warerooms  hundreds  of 
miles  away. 

The  dry-goods  dealer,  the  glove  manufacturer,  the  corset 
maker  and  the  ribbon  weaver  can  show  his  goods  in  all  the  hues 
,of  the  rainbow.  In  truth  there  seems  to  be  no  end  of  the  articles 
that  can  be  exploited  to  advantage  through  the  use  of  color. 

As  women  are  more  susceptible  to  the  refinements  of  color 
than  men  they  are  more  easily  attracted  and  influenced  by  it. 
This  is  why  in  the  high-class  women's  publications  color  is  so 
generally  employed  in  the  advertisements  of  women's  wearing 
apparel,  millinery  and  toilet  accessories.  Psychologists  tell  us 
that  color  is  emotional  rather  than  intellectual  in  its  appeal. 
This  perhaps  accounts  for  its  effect  upon  the  fair  sex. 

Mere  descriptions  of  colors  do  not  mean  the  same  thing  to  all 
people.  When  you  say  a  thing  is  red  it  means  little  to  many 
persons,  for  the  reason  that  there  are  so  many  different  tints  of 
red,  the  technical  names  of  which  they  do  not  know,  that  they 
cannot  tell  which  one  is  designated.  Written  descriptions  of 
goods  are  all  right  as  far  as  they  go,  but  we  do  not  all  receive  a 
like  impression  from  them.  On  the  other  hand,  when  you  visual- 
ize the  goods  in  your  advertising  by  means  of  an  illustration 
you  increase  the  number  of  persons  who  can  understand  what 
you  are  talking  about.  If  you  go  a  step  farther  and  print  the 
pictures  hi  colors  corresponding  to  those  of  the  articles  you  are 
exploiting,  you  eliminate  all  possibility  of  misconception  on  the 
part  of  the  reader. 

Technical  Details. — There  are  a  few  technical  details  concern- 
ing the  application  of  color  in  advertising  that  are  worth 
remembering.  A  beam  of  white  light  falling  upon  a  glass  prism 
in  a  dark  room  is  dissolved  into  the  seven  colors  of  which  it  is 
composed — violet,  indigo,  blue,  green,  yellow,  orange  and  red. 
Sir  David  Brewster  declares  that  the  three  fundamental  colors 
are  red,  yellow  and  blue.  The  combination  of  any  two  of  these 
results  in  the  formation  of  a  secondary  color  which  contrasts  with 
the  third  color.  Secondary  colors  should  be  used  for  backgrounds, 
leaving  the  primary  colors  to  bring  out  the  strong  points  in  the 
advertisement. 

To  develop  the  true  brilliancy  of  a  color  it  must  be  supported 


88  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

by  a  contrast  or  a  complementary  color.  For  instance,  the  red 
of  the  rose  harmonizes  with  the  green  of  the  foliage. 

The  warm  colors  are  red,  yellow  and'  orange.  The  cold  are 
blue,  violet  and  green. 

In  fixing  upon  a  good  color  scheme  for  a  design — one  that  is 
harmonious  and  strong — it  is  usually  wise  to  select  complementary 
colors  and  deepen  or  gray  one  of  them.  Here  is  a  list  of  colors 
and  their  complements: 

Red — Green 

Red  Orange  Green  Blue 

Orange — Blue 

Orange  Yellow          Purple  Blue 
Yellow — Purple 

Yellow  Green  Purple  Red 

Green — Red 

Green  Blue  Red  Orange 

Blue — Orange 

Blue  Purple  Orange  Yellow 

Purple — Yellow 

Purple  Red  Yellow  Green 

Strong  contrasts  of  color  must  be  aimed  at,  for  it  is  the  strong 
but  pleasing  contrasts  that  attract  the  eye  and  live  in  the  mem- 
ory. One  must  know  how  to  produce  harmony  through  the 
proper  selection  of  colors  just  as  the  musician  must  know  how 
to  combine  the  notes  in  the  scale  to  produce  harmony  of  sound. 

According  to  a  series  of  tests  made  by  psychologists  men  have 
a  preference  for  blue  and  women  for  red.  Yellow  is  more 
favored  by  young  people  than  by  old.  With  advancing  age  the 
preferred  color  passes  on  down  toward  the  violet  end  of  the 
spectrum.  The  younger  the  person  the  nearer  the  red  end  will 
be  found  the  color  that  pleases  most. 

In  regard  to  the  selection  of  stock  for  printing  colored  ad- 
vertisements, it  may  be  said  that  since  warm  colors  are  demanded 
oftenest  for  the  strong  spots  of  the  design,  on  account  of  their 
more  pleasing  and  interest-exciting  qualities,  the  stock  should 
be  a  pale  tone  of  the  red-orange,  orange  and  the  orange-yellow, 
or  yellow  colors.  These  are  all  cream  or  buff  in  tone.  Very 


ADVANTAGES  OF  COLOR  IN  ADVERTISING  89 

valuable  colors  for  stock  are  pale  yellow-green,  green,  green-blue 
and    blue-purple. 

There  are  several  color  printing  processes  employed  by  printers. 
The  most  popular  are  the  three- and  four-color  processes.  The 
three-color  process  is  based  on  the  three  fundamental  colors — 
red,  yellow  and  blue,  which  may  be  combined  to  produce  any 
shade  or  color  desired,  a  different  plate  being  used  for  each  color. 
Sometimes  a  fourth  plate  is  used  to  print  in  the  black  or  gray  to 
obtain  neutral  tones  and  blacks. 

Questions 

1.  In  what  three  ways  is  color  valuable  in  advertising? 

2.  What  are  colored  inserts  and  in  what  class  of  mediums  are  they 
employed? 

3.  Why  is  it  uneconomical  to  use  cheap  art  work? 

4.  Give  two  instances  in  which  the  introduction  of  color  increased  the 
pulling  power  of  advertisements. 

5.  What  products  can  be  advertised  to  special  advantage  by  the  use  of 
color? 

6.  In  what  way  does  the  use  of  color  aid  salesmen  in  selling  goods  to 
dealers? 

7.  To  what  part  of  our  nature  does  color  appeal? 

8.  How  does  color  prevent  misunderstanding? 

9.  Name  the  three  fundamental  colors. 

10.  What  colors  indicate  warmth?     What  colors  indicate  cold? 

11.  What  is  the  favorite  color  of  men?    Of  women? 

12.  In  advertising  a  refrigerator  or  an  ice  company  what  would  be  an 
appropriate  color  to  use? 

13.  How  is  brilliancy  of  color  best  brought  out? 


CHAPTER  VIII 
PLANNING  A  NATIONAL  CAMPAIGN 

General  advertising  campaigns  may  broadly  be  divided  into 
three  classes: 

1.  Extensive  campaigns  involving  large  sums  of  money,  carried 
on  in  behalf  of  articles  which  have  a  general  or  national  consump- 
tion and  which  have  been  advertised  for  years  and  are  therefore 
firmly  established. 

2.  Campaigns  to  exploit  articles  similar  to  those  comprised  in 
the  first  class  but  which  have  never  been  advertised  before,  the 
amount  spent  depending  upon  the  object  to  be  accomplished. 

3.  Campaigns  to  introduce  new  products  having  little  or  no 
distribution  and  requiring  educational  work  to  acquaint  the 
public  with  their  uses  and  trade-marks.     These  may  be  at  first 
territorial  in  character,  and,  later,  may  take  in  the  whole  country. 

It  is  obvious  that  each  of  these  classes  requires  different 
treatment.  The  plan  and  copy  must  be  adapted  to  the  purpose 
of  the  campaign.  It  is  quite  evident  that  in  exploiting  an  article 
that  has  been  on  the  market  for  years  you  would  employ  a 
different  kind  of  copy  than  for  a  brand-new  article  with  which  the 
public  is  unacquainted. 

The  first  thing  to  do  in  planning  a  national  campaign  is  to 
answer  these  questions:  What  do  I  want  the  advertising  to 
accomplish?  Is  it  to  introduce  a  new  product  and  arouse  interest 
in  it?  Is  it  to  build  confidence  and  good"  will  through  what  is 
known  as  institutional  advertising,  or  is  it  to  produce  immediate 
sales? 

When  you  have  reached  a  decision,  the  next  step  is  to  settle 
upon  the  plan  of  campaign,  which  should  be  based  upon  informa- 
tion contained  in  the  answers  to  the  following  questions:  To 
what  class  of  people  does  the  article  appeal?  How  large  a 
territory  is  to  be  covered  by  the  campaign?  Based  upon  popula- 

90 


PLANNING  A  NATIONAL  CAMPAIGN  91 

tion,  what  are  the  maximum  sales  possible  in  this  territory? 
What  competition  will  have  to  be  overcome?  Are  the  goods 
sold  through  jobbers  or  direct  to  retailers?  Are  they  well 
distributed?  From  the  consumer's  viewpoint,  is  the  article  a 
necessity,  a  luxury  or  a  public  convenience? 

Not  until  this  information  is  assembled  is  it  necessary  to  give 
much  attention  to  the  advertising  appropriation.  Having 
determined  what  results  you  want  to  secure,  the  territory  to  be 
covered,  and  the  best  mediums  for  reaching  the  people  who  may 
become  interested  hi  your  products,  you  can  then  figure  out  the 
cost  of  the  campaign. 

But  when  the  figures  have  been  assembled  it  may  be  found  that 
the  sum  of  money  called  for  is  more  than  the  finances  of  the  firm  will 
allow  to  be  invested  at  the  time.  In  which  case  it  will  be  com- 
paratively easy  to  cut  down  the  number  of  mediums  to  be  used 
and  the  territory  to  be  covered  until  the  amount  falls  within 
the  ability  of  the  firm  to  pay. 

The  trouble  with  many  new  advertisers  is  that  they  start  in  to 
advertise  at  a  pace  they  cannot  maintain  for  any  length  of  time. 
They  attempt  to  cover  the  whole  country  when  they  should  con- 
fine the  campaign  to  a  small  section  of  it.  They  expect  too 
much  from  their  advertising  at  the  beginning.  They  fail  to 
appreciate  the  fact  that  it  takes  time  to  familiarize  the  public 
with  the  advantages  of  a  new  article  and  create  a  determination 
to  possess  it.  Few  persons  rush  out  and  buy  it  when  the  first 
advertisement  appears.  A  certain  amount  of  mental  inertia 
must  be  overcome  before  they  will  react  to  the  appeal  and  this 
is  accomplished  through  a  repetition  of  the  advertising  impression. 
Hence  the  necessity  for  continuous  advertising. 

In  another  chapter  (Problems  of  the  General  Advertiser) 
the  advertising  appropriation  is  discussed  at  some  length  and 
therefore  we  need  not  dwell  upon  it  further  here,  except  to 
emphasize  the  desirability  of  adopting  a  fixed  sum  and  sticking 
to  it.  If  the  amount  is  2  per  cent,  of  the  gross  sales  of  last  year 
let  that  figure  stand — no  matter  what  pressure  may  be  brought 
upon  you  to  change  it.  The  advertising  manager  then  knows 
just  where  he  stands.  He  has  a  definite  sum  to  put  into  advertis- 
ing for  the  next  twelve  months  and  can  plan  Jiis  campaign  accord- 


92  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

ingly.  If  he  is  wise  he  will  so  arrange  his  schedule  that  he  will 
always  have  a  small  amount  of  money  on  hand  with  which  to 
take  advantage  of  any  unusual  advertising  opportunity  that  may 
arise.  The  fixed  appropriation  removes  uncertainty  and  pro- 
motes confidence  in  the  selling  organization.  Not  only  can 
better  results  be  obtained  but  also  at  less  expense. 

On  the  Selection  of  Mediums. — Having  selected  the  territory 
the  advertising  campaign  is  to  cover,  the  next  important  step  is 
to  choose  the  mediums  that  are  to  be  used.  The  greater  part  of 
the  appropriation  of  most  general  advertisers,  and  especially  of 
those  who  are  marketing  an  article  having  a  wide  appeal,  is 
invested  in  the  newspapers,  because  they  are  universally  read  by 
the  masses  who  constitute  the  bulk  of  the  buying  public,  and 
exert  a  direct  influence  upon  them.  If  the  goods  are  on  sale  in 
the  stores  the  newspapers  bring  the  buyer  and  seller  together  in  a 
natural  way.  The  manufacturer  describes  his  product  as  at- 
tractively as  possible  and  then  tells  where  it  can  be  found  right 
in  the  town  in  which  the  newspaper  is  printed. 

Every  live  city  of  5,000  inhabitants  and  upward  has  at  least 
one  daily  newspaper.  Some  have  three  or  four,  while  New  York, 
America's  greatest  city,  has  56,  one-half  being  printed  in  foreign 
languages.  In  each  city  containing  two  or  more  newspapers 
there  is  usually  one  that  dominates  the  field  and  is  the  best 
medium  in  which  to  advertise. 

In  addition  to  knowing  the  best  newspaper  in  each  community 
it  is  advisable  to  know  the  character  and  peculiarities  of  the 
population.  There  are,  for  instance,  cities  of  equal  size,  twenty- 
five,  fifty  and  one  hundred  miles  apart,  that  differ  amazingly  in 
many  ways.  Some  run  to  clothes,  some  to  amusements  and 
some  to  automobiles.  Some  towns  buy  half  as  much  food  as 
other  cities  having  the  same  population.  You  can  tell  very  little 
about  the  buying  capacity  of  a  town  until  you  learn  the  nature 
of  the  principal  occupations  of  the  inhabitants. 

Next  to  the  newspapers  the  magazines,  monthly  and  weekly, 
stand  highest  in  favor  among  general  advertisers.  The  quality 
of  their  readers  is  above  the  average  and  their  ability  to  buy  is 
larger.  Because  of  the  superior  grade  of  paper  upon  which  they 
are  printed,  a  higher  class  of  illustrations  can  be  used,  and  the 


PLANNING  A  NATIONAL  CAMPAIGN  93 

advertisements  show  up  better  and  are  more  attractive.  Another 
advantage  is  that  magazines  permit  the  employment  of  colors, 
which  greatly  enhance  their  effectiveness. 

Other  popular  mediums  are  booklets,  folders,  catalogs,  posters 
and  painted  bulletins,  electric  signs  and  street  car  cards.  Each 
one  plays  an  important  part  in  a  general  advertising  campaign. 
The  fact  that  the  most  successful  advertisers  use  these  mediums 
year  after  year  is  proof  of  their  merit.  Further  on  in  this  book 
the  several  mediums  are  discussed  at  greater  length. 

How  Lists  of  Newspapers  and  Other  Publications  Are  Prepared. 
Having  determined  upon  the  territory  to  be  covered,  whether 
a  district,  section  or  the  entire  country,  the  advertising  manager, 
or,  in  case  the  account  is  handled  by  an  advertising  agency,  the 
space  buyer,  proceeds  to  make  up  the  list  of  periodicals  to  be  used. 
The  directory  containing  the  largest  and  most  reliable  list  of 
publications  is  issued  by  N.  W.  Ayer  &  Son,  of  Philadelphia.  It 
gives  the  name,  publisher  or  editor  of  25,000  publications  of 
all  kinds,  together  with  the  dates  when  established,  their  circu- 
lation, frequency  of  issue,  and  the  population  of  the  town  or 
city  in  which  they  are  printed.  In  addition,  the  advertising 
agent  has  on  file  a  vast  amount  of  information  relating  to  ad- 
vertising rates,  discounts,  the  size  of  pages,  width  of  columns, 
character  of  cuts  that  will  be  accepted,  limitations  as  to  the 
character  of  copy  carried,  closing  dates  of  magazines,  politics  of 
daily  papers,  statistics  regarding  the  industries,  businesses, 
schools  and  churches  of  the  cities  in  which  they  are  published. 
While  the  advertising  manager  of  concerns  that  have  been 
advertising  for  years  may  also  have  much  of  this  information  at 
his  command,  the  agent's  data  is  usually  more  complete  and 
reliable. 

Take  the  matter  of  rates  as  an  illustration.  All  periodical  or 
newspaper  publishers  furnish  their  rates  on  application  either  hi 
the  form  of  a  letter  or  a  rate  card.  Buyers  of  advertising  space 
know  from  experience  that  rate  cards  do  not  always  tell  the 
truth — that  lower  rates  than  those  given  can  often  be  obtained 
through  diplomatic  offers  of  cash  with  order,  by  quoting  lower 
rates  that  have  been  accepted  by  other  publishers,  or  by  promises 
of  using  larger  copy  later  on. 


94  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

The  agent,  buying  as  he  does  for  many  clients,  soon  learns  the 
ins  and  outs  of  rate  cards  and  can  drive  hard  and  fast  bargains 
with  periodicals  with  which  he  has  dealt  before.  He  knows  when 
he  is  getting  rock-bottom  rates,  and  therefore  can  save  consider- 
able money  for  his  clients.  The  advertising  manager  does  not 
usually  have  this  intimate  knowledge  of  rates  because  he  only 
buys  space  for  the  house  with  which  he  is  connected.  Occa- 
sionally he  may  pick  up  a  little  valuable  information  on  the  sub- 
ject by  comparing  notes  with  other  advertising  managers,  but,  as 
a  rule,  such  data  is  not  peddled  about. 

In  making  up  the  list  of  publications  the  size  of  the  appropria- 
tion is  an  important  factor.  It  may  be  large  enough  to  warrant 
the  use  of  all  of  the  daily  newspapers  of  a  city,  or  perhaps  two 
newspapers,  a  morning  and  an  evening;  or  the  limit  may  be  one 
newspaper,  in  which  case  the  one  having  the  largest  circulation 
would  probably  be  selected.  Negotiations  are  carried  on  by  the 
advertiser  with  each  publication  for  the  amount  of  space  re- 
quired and  contracts  covering  the  period  of  the  campaign  are 
signed.  Sometimes,  in  cases  where  a  newspaper  and  an  adver- 
tiser have  been  doing  business  together  for  years,  the  formality 
of  drawing  up  and  signing  contracts  is  dispensed  with,  the  usual 
order  for  the  space  required  being  regarded  as  sufficiently  binding. 

Bills  are  rendered  weekly  or  monthly  according  to  agreement, 
but  the  usual  custom  is  to  send  them  monthly  except  in  the  case 
of  a  few  weeklies  of  large  circulation  whose  page  rate  is  several 
thousand  dollars.  A  discount  of  2  per  cent,  for  cash  in  10  days 
is  frequently  allowed.  The  advertiser  is  supplied  with  copies  of 
the  publication  in  which  his  advertisements  appear  as  proof  of 
the  fulfilment  of  the  contract. 

How  Often  Should  Advertisements  Be  Run? — Experienced 
advertisers  have  found  that  in  daily  newspaper  campaigns  cover- 
ing the  greater  part  of  the  year  it  is  not  necessary  to  advertise 
seven  days  in  the  week  in  order  to  obtain  maximum  results. 
The  schedule  adopted  by  several  manufacturers  provides  for  an 
advertisement  every  other  day.  When  this  plan  is  followed 
the  public  gets  the  impression  that  it  appears  in  every  issue 
of  the  paper.  Some  advertisers  order  insertions  to  be  made 
on  Tuesday,  Thursday,  Saturday  and  Sunday  in  morning 


PLANNING  A  NATIONAL  CAMPAIGN  95 

newspapers.  Others  prefer  Monday,  Wednesday,  and  Friday. 
Outside  of  New  York  and  a  few  cities  where  the  large  department 
stores  are  closed  either  all  day  or  half  a  day  on  Saturday  during 
July  and  August,  more  goods  are  sold  on  Saturday  than  on  any 
other  day  in  the  week.  Thursday  is  the  next  largest  sales  day. 
In  New  York  Monday  is  also  a  big  day  for  shoppers. 

Large  space  used,  on  Wednesday  or  Friday,  and  Monday — 
two  days  a  week — will  produce  good  results.  Sunday  editions 
are  not  regarded  with  favor  by  most  national  advertisers  because 
of  the  large  amount  of  local  advertising  which  they  carry  that 
day,  and  which  absorbs  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  an  unusual 
degree.  Sunday  is  the  one  day  in  the  week,  they  declare,  when 
nothing  is  lost  by  staying  out  of  the  paper.  There  are,  however, 
several  classes  of  advertisers  who  have  found  the  Sunday  news- 
papers the  most  profitable  editions  of  the  week,  namely,  book 
publishers,  the  summer  and  winter  resort  hotels,  and  the  steam- 
ship and  railroad  companies  that  cater  to  tourists  and  vacationists. 

Advertisements  that  appear  only  one  day  a  week  are  hardly 
worth  while  unless  half  pages  or  whole  pages  are  used.  Far 
better  results  can  be  secured  by  dividing  the  space  into  three 
parts,  filling  each  with  good  stirring  copy  and  running  one  of 
these  advertisements  every  other  day  for  a  week.  A  few  ad- 
vertisers have  had  success  in  using  1-  and  2-in.  advertisements 
365  days  in  the  year.  In  each  case,  however,  the  article  adver- 
tised was  a  specialty  that  was  sold  at  a  low  price  and  for  which 
only  a  limited  demand  could  possibly  be  created.  As  we  have 
already  stated  elsewhere,  it  is,  as  a  rule,  far  better  to  use  fairly 
large  space  in  a  few  good  mediums  than  small  space  in  many. 

Now  as  to  Copy. — If  the  plan  of  campaign  has  been  carefully 
worked  out  beforehand,  as  it  should  be,  the  copy-writer  is  now 
in  a  position  to  lay  out  to  advantage  a  series  of  advertisements 
for  the  campaign.  Every  campaign  should  have  at  least  one 
idea  behind  it — one  purpose  in  view.  The  degree  of  skill  with 
which  the  idea  is  developed  and  presented  will  measure  the 
success  it  will  achieve. 

Some  articles  are  easily  advertised  because  of  the  abundance  of 
material  at  the  writer's  command.  Take  silks  as  an  illustration. 


96  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

So  much  can  be  said  about  the  cultivation  of  the  silkworm,  of 
the  cocoon  that  it  spins,  of  the  winding  of  the  gossamer  threads, 
of  the  spinning,  weaving  and  dyeing  of  the  silk  fabric,  of  its 
fashioning  into  exquisite  garments  for  the  adornment  and  com- 
fort of  women,  that  there  is  practically  no  end  to  the  interesting 
advertisements  that  can  be  prepared  on  the  subject. 

In  contrast  to  silk  take  soap.  There  is  very  little  in  the  way 
of  variety  to  be  said  about  soap,  especially  about  the  kind  made 
for  washing  clothes  and  for  cleaning  purposes.  You  cannot  put 
much  heart  interest  into  advertisements  about  it.  The  sub- 
ject does  not  appeal  to  the  imagination.  You  cannot  get  very 
enthusiastic  over  kitchen  soap.  And  yet  there  are  at  least  two 
brands  of  household  soap  that  have  been  advertised  continuously 
for  35  or  45  years.  If  you  will  look  over  the  advertisements  that 
have  been  printed  during  this  period  you  will  find  that  there  has 
been  a  surprising  variety  of  copy  employed.  The  style  has 
changed  with  the  times.  The  illustrations  have  been  adapted  to 
the  day,  and  the  copy  to  the  prevailing  method  of  presentation. 

All  of  which  goes  to  show  that  the  wide-awake  advertisement 
writer  who  studies  his  product  continuously  and  who  knows  how 
to  take  advantage  of  information  picked  up  by  salesmen,  or  from 
correspondence  flowing  through  the  office,  is  never  lacking  in 
good  material  out  of  which  to  construct  advertisements  that  will 
pay. 

What  Should  Be  Done  to  Help  the  Retailer? — The  general 
advertiser  who  takes  no  further  interest  in  his  product  after  it  has 
been  sold  to  the  retail  merchant  is  making  a  great  mistake,  for 
unless  the  goods  move  off  the  dealers'  shelves  within  a  reasonable 
length  of  time,  the  latter  will  buy  no  more  of  them.  The  ex- 
pense incurred  in  selling  the  first  bill  of  goods  to  a  retailer  is 
seldom  offset  by  the  profit  made  on  the  transaction.  Only  those 
accounts  are  worth  while  that  represent  repeat  orders.  It  is 
therefore  to  the  manufacturer's  interest  to  watch  the  retailer's 
sales,  and  if  he  needs  help  to  give  it  to  him  ungrudgingly.  The 
more  progressive  man  does  not  need  to  be  asked  for  -assistance 
— he  volunteers  it  at  the  start. 

While  magazine  advertising  is  introducing  the  product  to  the 
general  public  and  newspaper  advertising  is  creating  a  local 


PLANNING  A  NATIONAL  CAMPAIGN  97 

demand  and  telling  where  it  can  be  purchased,  it  is  often  desirable 
to  cultivate  the  local  field  more  intensively  by  the  employment 
of  additional  mediums  and  methods.  Moreover,  there  are 
some  cities  and  towns  in  which  the  daily  newspapers,  for  various 
reasons,  cannot  be  employed.  Retailers  in  such  places  must  use 
other  means  for  letting  their  customers  know  what  they  have  to 
offer.  The  general  advertiser  finds  it  advisable  to  furnish 
these  merchants  artistic  window  and  counter  displays,  hangers, 
folders,  booklets, "and  advertising  novelties.  If  provided  with  a 
list  of  a  retailer's  customers  he  will  gladly  mail  to  them 
letters  bearing  the  merchant's  signature  and  calling  attention  to 
the  article  for  which  a  market  is  sought. 

In  the  large  cities  where  the  retailers  have  the  benefit  of  local 
newspaper  advertising  they  are  supplied  with  many  of  the  dealer 
helps  just  enumerated.  In  addition  the  manufacturer  furnishes 
cuts  for  the  merchant's  store  advertising  and  puts  on  demonstra- 
tions of  his  products  in  the  stores  for  a  few  days.  Foods, 
relishes,  new  beverages,  and  cleaning  preparations  are  advertised 
profitably  in  this  way.  Another  means  of  attracting  buyers  for 
a  product  is  through  the  distribution  of  samples  by  the  advertiser's 
own  crews  employed  for  the  purpose.  Unless  the  work  is  done 
with  great  care  and  discretion  this  method  is  apt  to  prove  ex- 
pensive, especially  when  the  unit  cost  runs  above  10  cents. 

It  is  not  advisable  to  furnish  advertising  matter  of  any  kind 
to  the  retailer  unless  he  has  requested  that  it  be  sent,  or  has 
agreed  to  properly  distribute  it.  And  even  then  the  manufacturer 
does  not  know  whether  the  advertising  matter  is  being  used  unless 
he  sends  inspectors  among  the  stores  to  find  out.  The  owner 
of  a  prosperous  drug  store  in  a  large  city  near  New  York  asserts 
that  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of  such  material  which  he  can- 
not possibly  use,  is  sent  him  unsolicited  every  year.  The  only 
way  he  has  of  getting  rid  of  it  is  to  sell  it  as  waste  paper  to  a 
junk  dealer.  When  packages  of  booklets,  circulars  and  folders 
arrive  at  the  average  retailer's  store  they  are  either  left  unopened 
in  the  store-room  or  are  thrown  under  a  counter  where  they  are 
soon  covered  with  dust  and  become  soiled  and  unpresentable 
through  the  neglect  of  the  clerks. 

If  a  dealer  appreciates  the  assistance  that  the  right  kind  of 

7 


98  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

printed  matter  can  render,  and  will  see  that  it  is  properly  dis- 
tributed, he  will  find  that  it  will  have  a  great  influence  in  creating 
sales. 

Should  Dealer  Helps  Be  Furnished  Free  of  Charge? — It  is 
becoming  more  and  more  the  custom  to  charge  the  dealer  a 
proportionate  share  of  the  advertising  matter  furnished  him  by 
the  general  advertiser,  more  especially  in  the  case  of  expensive 
booklets  and  folders.  One  argument  advanced  in  support  of 
this  practice  is  that  the  retailer  ought  to  bear  a  part  of  the  burden 
of  advertising  cost  and  not  expect  the  producer  to  shoulder  it  all. 

Another  reason  is  that  any  retailer  who  wants  printed  matter 
badly  enough  to  pay  for  it  will  see  that  it  is  properly  distributed. 
We  do  not  usually  waste  anything  that  costs  us  real  money. 
One  of  the  interesting  developments  in  furnishing  advertising 
helps  to  retailers  is  the  marked  improvement  in  the  character 
of  the  printed  matter  they  distribute.  The  cheap  stuff  put  out 
fifteen  years  ago  would  not  be  accepted  as  a  gift  today  by  wide- 
awake retailers.  Our  merchants  know  what  good  printing  is, 
and  when  they  pay  money  for  advertising  matter  of  any  kind 
they  insist  that  they  get  their  money's  worth. 

Should  Advertising  Precede  or  Follow  Distribution? — The 
public  cannot  buy  your  product  unless  it  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
dealer  when  the  advertising  starts,  and  hence  every  person  who 
might  be  influenced  to  go  to  the  stores  and  inquire  for  it,  should 
the  advertising  appear  before  distribution  is  effected,  would  be 
disappointed  when  told  that  it  was  not  in  stock.  Moreover, 
he  would  feel  that  he  had  been  deceived.  Your  advertisements 
probably  said  or  implied  that  the  article  was  on  sale  at  the  grocer's, 
the  druggist's,  or  the  dry-goods  stores,  when  such  was  not  the 
case.  You  may  think  that  these  inquiries  will  force  the  retailers 
to  put  it  on  sale — and  it  may  after  months  of  advertising — but 
what  of  the  sales  that  might  have  been  made  in  the  meantime 
had  the  goods  been  in  stock? 

By  far  the  most  sensible  plan  of  procedure  is  to  secure  distri- 
bution first  and  thus  get  the  full  benefit  of  your  advertising  from 
the  start.  This,  we  will  admit,  is  not  an  easy  task,  but  good 
salesmanship,  backed  by  convincing  proof  as  to  the  character 
and  amount  of  the  Advertising  that  is  to  be  employed  to  exploit 


PLANNING  A  NATIONAL  CAMPAIGN  99 

the  merchandise  and  help  move  it  off  the  dealer's  shelves,  will 
have  its  effect.  If  only  one  or  two  retailers  in  a  town  can  be 
persuaded  to  give  trial  orders  at  the  start  the  others  will,  later 
on  when  the  advertising  begins  to  pull,  be  glad  to  stock  up. 

Questions 

1.  Name  the  three  classes  of  general  advertising  campaigns. 

2.  What  things  are  to  be  considered  in  laying  out  a  campaign? 

3.  In  introducing  a  new  article  why  is  it  best  to  try  it  out  in  a  limited 
territory  first  before  attempting  to  cover  the  country? 

4.  Why  is  the  newspaper  regarded  as  a  desirable  medium  by  national 
advertisers? 

6.  How  are  lists  of  newspapers  and  magazines  prepared? 

6.  How  can  the  advertising  agent  help? 

7.  How  often  should  the  advertisements  appear? 

8.  What  days  of  the  week  are  most  favored  by  national  distributors? 

9.  Where  can  the  material  for  advertisements  be  found? 

10.  What  should  be  done  to  help  the  retailer? 

11.  Should  a  charge  be  made  for  advertising  material  furnished?     Give 
the  reasons. 

12.  Should  advertising  precede  or  follow  distribution? 

13.  Select  three  newspapers  in  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Chicago 
that  could  be  used  to  best  advantage  in  creating  a  demand  for  a  medium 
priced  shoe  for  men  and  women  on  sale  at  local  stores. 

14.  Prepare  a  5-in.  D.  C.  advertisement  for  a  new  kind  of  wheat  break- 
fast food.     Secure  the  material  by  calling  upon  the  owner  or  manager  of  a 
local  grocery  store. 

15.  If  you  were  called  upon  to  invest  $100,000  in  a  national  advertising 
campaign  for  a  line  of  men's  and  youth's  clothes,  what  mediums  would 
you  use  and  how  would  you  apportion  the  money  among  them? 


CHAPTER  IX 
PROBLEMS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ADVERTISER 

The  commercial  business  of  the  world  is  carried  on  by  three 
groups  of  men — manufacturers,  wholesalers,  and  retailers.  Of 
these  the  manufacturers  and  the  wholesalers,  or  jobbers,  as  they 
are  often  called,  are  national  distributors,  and  the  retailers,  local 
distributors  of  merchandise.  As  the  former  sell  goods  to  mer- 
chants in  all  parts  of  the  country  their  advertising  is  called 
general  advertising  because  it  is  confined  to  no  one  city  or  dis- 
trict. The  largest  national  advertisers  are  the  manufacturers 
of  food  products,  cigars  and  cigarettes,  chewing  gum,  automobiles 
and  automobile  accessories,  shoes,  men's  clothing,  soap,  musical 
instruments  and  toilet  articles.  One  tobacco  company  is  in- 
vesting more  than  $3,000,000  a  year  in  advertising.  A  talking 
machine  is  being  exploited  to  the  extent  of  over  $2,500,000 
annually.  A  gum  manufacturer  is  putting  $1,750,000  into  his 
advertising  every  twelve  months.  There  are  at  least  twelve 
national  advertisers  who  belong  to  the  million-a-year  class. 

In  an  earlier  chapter  we  enumerated  several  things  the  general 
advertiser  should  be  certain  of  before  starting  an  advertising 
campaign,  the  most  important  being  that  his  goods  are  right  and 
meet  the  needs  of  the  consumer;  that  the  price  is  reasonable; 
that  the  capacity  of  the  plant  is  sufficient  to  meet  the  demand 
developed  by  the  advertising  or  can  be  enlarged  to  take  care  of  it, 
and  that  the  goods  are  properly  marked  so  they  can  be 
identified  by  the  consumer. 

Selecting  the  Advertising  Agent. — The  importance  of  selecting 
a  competent  advertising  agency  to  handle  the  advertising  cam- 
paign cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized.  While  the  problem 
is  not  as  difficult  of  solution  as  it  was  a  few  years  ago,  before 
the  American  Newspaper  Publishers  Association  and  the  Peri- 
odical Publishers  Association  established  certain  rules  to  which 

100 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ADVERTISER  101 

the  agents  must  conform  to  secure  recognition,  care  must  still 
be  taken  in  making  the  choice.  The  agents  themselves  have 
done  much  to  strengthen  their  position  with  both  publishers 
and  advertisers  through  the  adoption  of  standards  of  practice. 

They  have  organized  the  American  Association  of  Advertising 
Agencies,  having  a  membership  of  132,  the  object  of  which  is  to 
put  the  business  on  a  higher  basis.  There  are  now  few  cities  in 
which  one  or  more  thoroughly  dependable  agents  cannot  be  found 
who  are  competent  to  handle  an  advertising  account.  The  largest 
agencies — those  equipped  to  take  full  charge  of  appropriations 
running  into  thousands  of  dollars  and  even  millions  of  dollars — 
are  located  in  the  metropolitan  cities.  They  command  the 
services  of  the  best  copy-writers,  the  highest  grade  of  commercial 
artists,  and  the  keenest  investigators  in  the  field. 

Lists  of  recognized  and  unrecognized  agents  are  published  from 
time  to  time  in  Printers'  Ink,  the  Editor  and  Publisher  and  the 
Fourth  Estate,  all  located  in  New  York  City. 

While  the  former  include  a  majority  of  the  largest  and  best 
known  agencies  it  does  not  follow  that  the  latter  are  unreliable  or 
incapable.  In  fact,  there  are  among  them  many  who  render 
advertisers  excellent  service.  There  is,  however,  a  distinct 
advantage  in  dealing  with  the  recognized  agents.  You  know 
that  they  have  been  investigated  by  representative  organizations 
and  have  been  admitted  to  their  lists  because  they  have  been  found 
to  measure  up  to  certain  standards  which  they  have  established. 

What  Mediums  to  Use. — The  selection  of  the  right  advertising 
mediums  is  fully  as  important  as  the  choosing  of  an  advertising 
agent.  Just  as  an  incompetent  agent  can  make  a  fizzle  of  a 
campaign  through  mismanagement  so  the  selection  of  poor 
mediums  can  waste  the  advertiser's  money.  If  you  pick  out  a 
reliable  agent,  one  acquainted  with  the  best  practices,  he  will 
prepare  a  list  of  mediums  which  he  considers  best  adapted  to  your 
needs  as  an  advertiser.  That  is  a  part  of  his  job.  His  constant 
study  of  newspapers  and  magazines  gives  him  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  their  character,  their  circulation  and  their  influence. 
He  is  familiar  with  their  rates,  the  cities  in  which  they  are  pub- 
lished and  the  kind  of  people  who  read  them.  Such  knowledge 
cannot  be  picked  up  in  a  day,  a  month,  or  a  year.  Directories 


102  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

contain  some  of  the  information,  but  the  most  of  it  can  only  be  ac- 
quired by  those  who  have  had  actual  dealings  with  the  publications 
in  placing  advertising  contracts,  and  through  correspondence  and 
special  investigations.  If  an  advertising  agent  is  not  available 
the  publisher  of  the  local  daily  newspaper  can  be  of  assistance 
in  selecting  the  proper  mediums. 

The  mediums  employed  by  the  general  advertiser  include 
newspapers,  weekly  and  monthly  magazines,  trade  publications, 
circulars,  mailing  cards,  booklets,  broadsides,  folders,  catalogs, 
letters,  posters,  street  car  cards,  painted  bulletins,  motion 
pictures,  samples  and  novelties.  Only  those  advertisers 
whose  appropriations  are  very  large  use  all  of  them.  The 
bulk  of  their  investment  as  a  rule  goes  into  newspaper  and 
magazine  advertising.  Several  manufactured  products  have 
achieved  a  remarkable  success  through  the  use  of  street 
car  cards  alone,  two  of  the  best  known  being  Omega  Oil  and 
Campbell's  Soups. 

Just  what  kinds  of  mediums  should  be  used  depends  upon  the 
class  of  people  to  whom  the  article  is  to  be  sold,  where  they  live, 
their  ability  to  purchase,  transportation  facilities,  etc.  How  to 
secure  maximum  sales  at  a  minimum  expense  should  be  the  aim 
of  all  advertisers.  In  marketing  food  products,  wearing  apparel 
and  household  articles  of  various  kinds,  the  newspapers  have  been 
found  economical  principally  because  of  their  universal  appeal. 
Magazines,  especially  the  popular  weeklies,  are  extensively  em- 
ployed in  creating  interest  in  a  product  that  already  has  general 
distribution. 

Trade  and  class  publications  should  be  used  when  the  article 
to  be  sold  strongly  appeals  to  technical,  professional,  trade, 
industrial,  religious,  social  or  other  groups  of  people.  For  in- 
stance, a  new  electric  motor  for  power  or  electric  lighting  plants 
should  be  advertised  in  such  publications  as  the  Electrical  World 
and  the  Electrical  Review  because  they  are  read  by  electrical 
engineers  who  buy  machines  of  this  kind.  If  you  are  marketing 
an  article  that  is  used  by  breeders  and  drivers  of  horses  you 
would  find  such  a  magazine  as  the  Rider  and  Driver  a  good 
medium.  If  you  want  to  reach  the  followers  of  Isaac  Walton 
you  should  not  overlook  Forest  and  Stream. 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ADVERTISER  103 


Gonfessions  of  a  jtfild  "Havana 


T^OR  years  now,  men  who 
JT  had  a  hankering  for  ripe 
Havana  leaf  made  palatably  mild, 
have  found  in  Robt.  Burns  their 
beau-ideal. 

Robert  Burns  explains  it  thus: 
"My  full  Havana  filler  rarely  fails 
to  give  my  friends  delight.  The 
fact  is,  special  curing  brings  my 
choice  Havana  to  just  the  right 
degree  of  mildness.  My  deli- 
cately neutral  Sumatra  wrapper 
leaf  helps  that  mildness.  Deft 
fingers  fashion  my  well-pro- 

HAVE  YOU  TRIED 


portioned,,  easy-drawing  form. 
"But  after  all,  the  test  lies 
here  •  Suppose  you  ask  my  friends 
among  the  trade,  what  luck,  they 
have  with  substitutes." 

A  WORTHY  TEST  but  here's  a 
better  yet;  suppose  you  inter- 
view Robt.  Burns  himself.  Keen 
smokers,  men  who  know,  declare 
he's  an  even  better  cigar  than 
ever — which  is  saying  much. 


ONE  LATELY? 


•U«.         S.1    E,.    P..,   J..   ]4.  HZO 


This  is  a  refined,  well-balanced  advertisement.  The  composition  is  in  good 
taste.  The  illustration  suggests  the  pleasure  of  an  after  dinner  smoke  and  the 
text  recommends  the  Robt.  Burns  Cigar. 


104 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


A  Sweetheart 
in  Every  Port 


Ship  ahoy,  Sailor  boy 
Sweetheart  alongside  — 
She'f  to  coy,  he'i  all  joy— 

Cracker  Jack's  their  pride! 


CVERYONE  likes  Cracker  Jack 
]_,  It's  a  delicious  confection  and  a 
wholesome  food. 

Made  of  carefully-selected,  crispy 
popcorn  and  roasted  peanuts,  all  gen- 
erously coated  with  molasses  candy. 

Just  try  Cracker  Jack  for  breakfast 
with  milk  or  cream— no  sugar.  Or 
as  a  satisfying  dessert  to  crown  a 
well-arranged  meal. 

Cracker  Jack  is  a  wonderful  treat— 
"The  More  You  Eat.  the  More  You 
Want."  Take  home  a  few  packages  to 
the  folks. 


ly  supply  you.  send  45  cents  for  six  package*, 
l  post,  prepaid,  anywhere  in  the  United  States. 


RUECKHE1M  BROS.  &  ECKSTEIN 


o  *nd  Brooklyn,  United  St*l«»  of  Amcric* 


America's  Famous  Food  Confection 


Cracker  Jack  ads  have  a  way  with  them  that  wins  the  interest  of  grown-ups 
as  well  as  children.  The  illustrations,  of  which  the  above  is  a  representative 
example,  are  always  in  good  humor. 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ADVERTISER  105 

Analyzing  Results. — The  national  advertiser  who  invests  his 
money  right  along  in  advertising  mediums  has  a  right  to  expect 
definite  results.  If  they  do  not  materialize  there  is  something 
seriously  wrong  either  with  the  mediums  or  the  copy.  Manley 
M.  Gillam,  who  was  John  Wanamaker's  advertising  manager 
for  several  years,  and  who  during  his  long  career  spent  $60,000,000 
in  advertising  for  his  clients,  once  said : 

"  I  do  not  believe  in  that  advertising  that  compels  you  to  wait  a 
year  or  two  years  for  results.  Advertising  should  achieve  results 
at  once,  and  by  that  I  mean  within  a  reasonable  length  of  time. 
If  it  does  not  it  shows  that  the  advertising  has  not  been  properly 
prepared." 

To  illustrate  what  advertising  can  do  Mr.  Gillam  cited  the  case 
of  Vici  Kid.  When  the  manufacturers  of  this  leather  started 
their  first  campaign,  from  $3,000,000  to  $5,000,000  worth  was 
being  sold  annually.  At  the  end  of  11  months  the  sales  had 
mounted  to  $12,000,000,  and  at  the  end  of  the  second  year  to 
$18,000,000.  For  handling  this  campaign  Mr.  Gillam  and  his 
partner  were  paid  $40,000  a  year  for  two  years,  and  the  third 
year,  $50,000. 

An  advertiser  whose  announcements  appear  in  2,000  cities  has 
found  that  when  he  uses  400  newspapers  he  secures  the  maximum 
results.  When  he  employs  fewer  papers  his  sales  drop. 

When  you  are  planning  an  advertising  campaign  you  should 
clearly  determine  in  your  own  mind  what  you  want  it  to  ac- 
complish. Is  it  to  interest  jobbers  or  retailers  in  your  product 
so  that  when  your  salesmen  call  upon  them  they  will  know  some- 
thing about  it?  Is  it  to  induce  the  consumer  to  visit  the  retail 
stores  and  purchase  the  article,  or  to  order  it  by  mail  from  the 
manufacturer?  Is  it  to  win  the  confidence  and  good  will  of  the 
public  ?  Or  is  it  merely  to  keep  your  name  and  your  trade-marked 
goods  constantly  on  view?  The  character  of  the  copy  you  are 
to  use  in  the  campaign  is  determined  by  the  result  you  seek  to 
accomplish. 

Four  things  are  essential  to  good  advertising — accuracy,  sincerity, 
variety  and  persistency.  Unless  advertisements  tell  the  truth  in 
season  and  out  of  season  they  will  fail  to  create  a  permanent 
demand.  You  may  deceive  the  public  for  a  while  but  in  the  end 


106  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

it  will  find  out  the  truth.  When  once  convinced  that  you  have 
deceived  it  you  cannot  regain  its  confidence,  no  matter  how  much 
space  you  may  use  or  how  frequently  your  advertisements  may 
appear.  Hence,  if  you  expect  to  build  up  a  patronage  that  will 
stick  by  you  and  become  more  valuable  as  the  years  go  by  you 
must  be  honest  and  sincere  in  your  advertising. 

Don't  let  your  advertising  become  monotonous  in  construc- 
tion or  in  appearance.  People  tire  of  the  same  arguments,  the 
same  illustrations,  and  the  same  style  of  display.  While  the 
facts  about  the  product  upon  which  your  advertisements  are  to 
be  based  may  be  few  yet  the  ways  in  which  these  facts  can  be 
presented  and  made  attractive  to  readers  by  a  clever  writer  are 
innumerable.  Excellent  material  can  be  picked  up  by  salesmen 
out  on  the  road,  or  it  may  be  found  in  the  letters  written  to  the 
firm  by  dealers  telling  of  their  experience  with  the  product.  It 
is  a  good  plan  now  and  then  to  change  the  type  in  which  your 
advertisements  are  being  set.  You  may  be  able  to  choose  a  face 
that  is  specially  adapted  to  your  purpose  and  that  will  increase 
the  pulling  power  of  the  advertisements,  in  which  case  it  would  be 
unwise  to  adopt  another.  If  you  have  been  using  pictures  for 
many  months  cut  them  out  altogether  for  awhile.  If  you  have 
been  running  half  pages  in  the  magazines  or  quarter  pages  in  the 
newspapers  try  doubling  the  space  for  a  few  issues.  Anything 
that  will  make  people  read  your  ads  is  desirable  provided,  of 
course,  it  is  in  good  taste.  "Shockers"  should  always  be 
avoided. 

Be  Persistent  in  Your  Advertising. — It  is  a  sheer  waste  of 
money  to  advertise  a  product  for  a  few  months  and  then  quit. 
Better  invest  the  cash  you  would  spend  in  an  automobile  or  in  a 
trip  to  Europe.  It  takes  some  time  to  make  an  article  known  to 
the  public — to  win  its  confidence  and  approval.  The  manufac- 
turer of  a  food  product,  at  the  end  of  his  first  advertising 
campaign,  was  so  disappointed  with  the  immediate  returns 
that  he  vowed  he  would  never  spend  another  dollar  in  printed 
salesmanship.  His  advertising  agent,  however,  put  up  such  a 
good  argument  that,  much  against  his  will,  he  consented  to 
continue  his  advertising  another  year.  Much  to  his  surprise 
business  began  to  pick  up  right  away  and  before  the  campaign 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ADVERTISER 


107 


ended  he  had  to  enlarge  his  factory  to  take  care  of  the  orders  he 
received. 

When  once  a  concern  has  established  a  demand  for  its  product 
it  must  keep  the  interest  in  it  alive  through  advertising.     People 


Why  have 
Why  have 

your  letters 
your  letters 

written  twice? 
written  twice? 


dor 


Every  time  you  dictate  a  letter  to 
a  stenographer— she  writes  it  in 
shorthand.  Then  she  writes  it 
on  her  typewriter. 

Double  work,  double  cost— and  it's 
all  so  inefficient  and  extravagant. 

Every  time  you  dictate  to  The 
Ediphone— 

Your  stenographer  writes  your  letters  once— 
on  her  typewriter.  Writes  50%  more, 
writes  Better  Letters,  writes  them  for  a 
Va  less  cost — writes  them  in  comfort  and 
ease. 

The  easiest  way  to  dictate  a  letter 


A  forceful   presentation   of   a   single   idea.     Every  word   counts.     The  cut  at 
the  top  visualizes  the  argument  and  takes  the  place  of  a  formal  headline. 

forget  easily.  A  thousand  and  one  things  claim  their  attention. 
Impressions  must  be  often  repeated  to  induce  action.  The  con- 
tinued appearance  of  a  firm's  advertising  is  a  constant  reminder 
that  the  firm  is  still  doing  business,  and,  incidentally,  an  assurance 
that  its  merchandise  is  being  kept  up  to  the  standard.  On  the 


108  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

other  hand  if  the  advertising,  for  any  reason,  is  discontinued, 
other  products  claim  attention  and  the  public  soon  gets  the 
impression  that  the  manufacturer  has  gone  out  of  business  and 
therefore  ceases  to  call  for  his  merchandise. 

It  is  the  continuous,  and  not  the  occasional  or  spasmodic 
advertiser  that  establishes  the  best-paying  volume  of  patronage, 
just  as  it  is  the  regular  meals  a  man  eats  that  build  bodily  strength 
and  health  and  not  the  big  feasts  of  Thanksgiving  Day,  Christmas 
or  other  anniversaries. 

Some  Copy  Suggestions. — As  advertising  in  popular  mediums 
costs  as  much  as  $5  and  $6  a  line,  every  word  that  goes  into  the 
copy  should  be  carefully  selected.  Cut  out  the  superfluous — 
all  the  "verys,"  the  "bests"  and  the  "greatests."  Avoid  long, 
unusual  words.  Don't  use  words  from  foreign  languages  unless 
their  meaning  is  well  known  to  the  people  who  will  read  your 
advertisements.  There  is  no  better  vehicle  for  conveying  ideas 
than  the  simple  words  used  by  the  average  man  or  woman  in 
everyday  life. 

See  that  the  article  you  wish  to  sell  and  the  advertisements  ex- 
ploiting them  are  adapted  to  the  sections  of  the  country  in  which 
your  selling  campaign  is  to  be  conducted.  Don't  advertise 
fur  coats  in  Southern  California  or  ice-cutting  machinery  in 
Florida.  It  is  not  advisable,  in  many  cases,  to  use  the  same 
copy  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  Canada. 

A  number  of  years  ago  Scott's  Emulsion  of  Cod  Liver  Oil 
was  advertised  in  Canada  in  precisely  the  same  form  used  to 
advertise  it  in  the  Southern  States.  The  result  was  that  people 
living  in  Louisiana  were  not  much  interested  in  the  statement 
that  Scott's  Emulsion  fortifies  the  body  to  withstand  the  intense 
cold  of  Canadian  winters.  Likewise  the  residents  of  Winnipeg 
did  not  rush  to  the  drug  stores  to  get  a  bottle  of  the  Emulsion 
when  they  were  told  that  it  was  very  beneficial  to  those  who  had 
been  weakened  by  attacks  of  malaria  and  swamp  fever.  When 
Thomas  E.  Dockrell  became  advertising  manager  of  Scott  & 
Bowne,  the  manufacturers  of  the  preparation,  he  soon  discovered 
this  waste  of  advertising  effort  and  made  plans  to  stop  it. 

Instead  of  running  the  same  advertisement  in  the  newspapers 
of  all  the  states  Mr.  Dockrell  prepared  several,  each  adapted  to 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ADVERTISER  109 

the  section  in  which  it  was  to  appear.  The  effect  of  this  change 
in  copy  was  seen  almost  immediately  in  the  sales  which  were 
much  larger  than  they  had  ever  had  before.  In  other  words 
the  efficiency  of  the  campaign  had  been  greatly  increased  through 
the  simple  expedient  of  adapting  the  copy  to  the  special  needs 
of  people  in  the  different  parts  of  the  country. 

It  takes  two  or  three  times  as  much  argument  to  induce  a 
customer  to  write  and  post  a  letter  making  an  inquiry  about  the 
goods  as  it  does  to  get  him  to  call  at  the  store  where  they  are  on 
sale  and  ask  to  see  them.  In  order  to  make  it  as  easy  as  possible 
for  the  consumer  to  make  an  inquiry  or  send  in  an  order  many 
general  advertisers  incorporate  with  the  advertisement  a  coupon 
which,  when  properly  signed,  can  be  cut  off  and  mailed  to  the 
dealer  or  manufacturer.  It  is  usually  placed  at  the  lower  left- 
or  right-hand  corner  next  to  the  margin  of  the  page. 

General  advertising  copy  in  order  to  produce  profitable  business 
must  in  many  cases  not  only  bring  inquiries,  but  also  be  so  well 
written  that  the  consumer  will  insist  upon  getting  the  advertised 
article  and  will  not  accept  a  substitute.  It  should  inspire  con- 
fidence right  from  the  start.  If  the  reader  is  made  to  feel  that 
the  article  will  contribute  to  his  comfort,  or  supply  a  need,  he  is 
sold  on  the  proposition  and  sooner  or  later  will  possess  it. 

On  the  Value  of  Inquiries. — Only  a  small  percentage  of  the 
people  who  ask  questions  about  merchandise  through  curiosity 
become  purchasers.  On  the  other  hand,  a  majority  of  those 
who  write  for  information  because  they  have  been  convinced  of 
its  merit,  buy  the  article.  You  cannot  expect  to  get  full  value 
out  of  your  advertising  unless  you  take  proper  care  of  the  in- 
quiries it  produces. 

In  a  test  made  a  short  time  ago  an  investigator  answered 
64  advertisements,  each  of  the  letters  requiring  a  reply.  Sixty- 
two  of  the  manufacturers  responded,  but  only  33  afterward  sent 
a  follow-up.  Of  these  only  16  sent  a  second  follow-up,  four,  a 
third  follow-up,  and  only  one  a  fourth  follow-up.  Just  think  of 
it!  Twenty-nine  national  advertisers  written  to  didn't  consider 
the  inquiry  of  sufficient  value  to  send  even  one  follow-up  letter. 

The  new  advertising  manager  of  a  company  that  was  seeking 
to  popularize  an  agricultural  implement  among  farmers,  in 


110  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

looking  around  the  office  one  day  discovered  several  boxes  filled 
with  unopened  letters.  "What  are  all  these  letters?"  he  asked 
one  of  his  assistants. 

"Oh,  those  are  requests  for  booklets  sent  in  by  people  who 
have  read  our  advertisements  in  the  farm  papers,"  was  the  reply. 

"Well,  why  haven't  they  been  sent?"  inquired  the  advertising 
manager. 

"  It's  too  much  bother  to  mail  them  every  day,  so  we  wait  until 
we  have  received  a  big  bunch  of  requests  and  then  send  them 
all  at  once." 

Many  of  the  letters  were  six  weeks  old.  The  people  who  wrote 
them  had  doubtless  become  tired  of  the  long  delay  in  receiving  a 
reply  and  had  either  lost  all  interest  in  the  article  advertised  or 
had  purchased  a  similar  article  elsewhere.  "Hereafter,"  said 
the  advertising  manager,  "all  letters  must  be  answered  the  day 
they  are  received.  No  wonder  the  president  has  been  kicking 
because  the  results  from  the  $50,000  advertising  campaign  that 
has  just  closed  have  been  so  meager." 

Be  Prompt  in  Answering  Inquiries. — Promptness  in  answering 
questions  or  in  filling  orders  is  essential  in  all  kinds  of  business, 
but  it  is  especially  important  in  the  case  of  those  that  are  pro- 
duced by  advertising.  If  money  or  a  check  is  sent  with  the  order 
to  a  concern  with  which  he  has  had  no  previous  dealings  and 
there  is  much  delay  in  receiving  the  goods,  the  customer  be- 
comes suspicious — fears  that  he  has  been  swindled.  He  resolves 
that  if  the  article  at  length  arrives  he  will  never  buy  another 
dollar's  worth  of  the  manufacturer.  Promptness  in  filling  orders 
breeds  confidence  and  promotes  further  orders. 

General  advertising  should  be  cumulative  in  effect;  that  is, 
the  several  advertisements  should  present  in  regular  order  the 
arguments  or  points  in  favor  of  the  article  to  which  attention 
is  directed  and  the  sale  of  which  it  aims  to  promote,  so  that  when 
the  end  of  the  series  is  reached  the  public  will  have  a  clear  idea 
of  its  quality  and  desirability.  This  statement  is  made  upon  the 
assumption  that  the  advertising  is  not  spasmodic,  but  con- 
tinuous, and  follows  a  well-thought-out  plan.  Hit-or-miss 
advertising  accomplishes  but  little.  It  is  the  organized  and 
persistent  attack  that  wins  the  battle. 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ADVERTISER 


111 


Would  You  Give  Up  Your  Telephone) 

I_TO\V  often  you  have  said  you  couldn't  keep  house 
•••  *-  without  your  telephone.  You'll  say  the  same  about 
P.  ANDG. — The  White  Naphtha  Soap,  after  you  once  have 
tried  it. 

P.  ANDG. — The  White  Naphtha  Soap  is  a  modern  soap  for 
modern  women. 

It  launders  clothes,  washes  dishes,  cleans  and  scrubs  more 
easily  and  more  quickly  than  other  soaps  because  it  combines 
the  good  qualities  of  high-grade  white  laundry  soap  and 
quick-working  naphtha  soap.  No  hard  rubbing.  It  loosens 
dirt  merely  by  contact. 

You'll  like  this  new-idea  soap  because  it  makes  such  good 
suds  even  in  hard  water;  because  it  has  such  a  clean,  sanitary 
odor;  and  because  it  saves  so  much  time  and  effort  for  you. 

'Phone  your  grocer  for  a  bar,  and  try  it. 

Not  merely  a  white  laundry  soap; 

Not  merely  a  naphtha  soap; 

But  the  best  features  of  both,  combined. 


WHITE    NAPHTHA  SOAP 


In  this  P  and  G  ad  the  illustration  furnishes  the  text  for  the  advertising  sermon 
that  follows.  The  question  asked  by  the  headline  catches  the  eye  and  curiosity 
leads  its  reader  to  look  at  the  message. 


112 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


for  crystal-clear  windows 


THE  panes  are  actually  invisible  after   I  have  gone  over 
them  with  Bon  Ami — not  a  speck  of  dirt  or  a  cloudy 
streak  remains. 

It's  so  easy,  too!    Just  a  thin,  watery  lather  of  Bon  Ann 
spread  over  the  glass  and  then  wiped  away  when  it  s  dry! 
Tissue  paper  is  good  for  wiping  off  the  dry  Bon  Ami 
— saves  soiling  a  cloth. 

Made  in  kvth  cafe  and  powder  farm. 


The  look  of  satisfaction  on  the  face  of  this  housewife  at  the  results  of  the  use 
of  Bon  Ami  upon  the  window  she  has  just  cleaned,  and  her  own  testimony  given 
in  the  text,  are  strong  arguments  in  its  favor  in  the  eyes  of  other  housekeepers. 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ADVERTISER  113 

How  Much  Money  Should  Be  Spent  in  Advertising? — This  is  a 
question  often  asked  by  new  and  inexperienced  advertisers.  In 
brief  it  may  be  said  that  it  depends  upon  several  things — the 
nature  of  the  product,  the  size  of  the  business,  the  amount  of 
capital  at  your  disposal  and  the  extent  of  the  field  in  which  you 
propose  to  operate.  Some  articles  can  only  be  sold  during  a 
certain  season  of  the  year;  as  for  example,  sleds,  sleighs,  skates, 
can  be  profitably  exploited  from  November  to  February,  and 
bathing  and  yachting  suits,  sport  goods,  etc.,  from  March  to 
October. 

Articles  of  general  consumption,  like  flour,  shoes,  soap,  break- 
fast foods,  and  baking  powder,  must  be  extensively  advertised 
throughout  the  country  the  year  round,  if  nation-wide  distribu- 
tion is  to  be  effected.  Articles  in  which  the  margin  of  profit  is 
large  admit  of  more  extensive  advertising  than  those  in  which 
the  margin  is  small.  Those  for  which,  because  of  their  limited 
appeal,  only  a  comparatively  small  sale  can  be  expected,  do  not 
call  for  a  large  advertising  expenditure,  but  in  order  to  secure 
maximum  results  at  a  minimum  cost  the  mediums  employed 
must  be  selected  with  special  care. 

As  a  general  rule  the  advertising  appropriation  is  based  on  the 
gross  sales  of  the  previous  fiscal  year,  the  percentage  varying 
widely  according  to  the  nature  of  the  business. 

Public  service  corporations  operating  hi  several  cities,  con- 
tractors and  concerns  of  like  nature  spend  1  per  cent.  A  large 
electrical  goods  manufacturing  company  that  in  1911  had  gross 
earnings  of  $38,000,000  adopted  1  per  cent,  as  its  annual 
advertising  expenditure.  A  Pennsylvania  bank  did  $1,000,000 
worth  of  new  business  on  an  advertising  investment  of  ^  per 
cent.  Automobile  manufacturers  are  spending  on  an  average 
of  4  per  cent.  Some  drop  as  low  as  2  per  cent,  and  others 
go  as  high  as  6  per  cent.  A  Detroit  motor-truck  manu- 
facturer one  year  put  33^<j  per  cent,  of  his  net  receipts  into 
advertising,  his  purpose  being  to  set  forth  in  detail  the  advantages 
of  his  machine  and  the  experiences  of  those  who  had  used  it. 

A  grain  house  which  is  an  extensive  advertiser  considers  an 
8  per  cent,  appropriation  reasonable.  Advertisers  of  some  toilet 
articles  spend  from  25  to  50  per  cent,  of  gross  profits  in  advertis- 


114  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

ing  their  products.  Patent  medicine  manufacturers  are  accus- 
tomed to  put  about  the  same  amount  into  publicity.  Producers 
of  food  stuffs  usually  limit  their  appropriations  to  from  1  to 
2  per  cent,  of  gross  sales.  One  of  them,  however,  is  said  to 
invest  50  per  cent,  of  his  profits. 

The  relative  value  of  large  and  small  space  has  received  consider- 
able attention  from  advertising  experts.  Prof.  Walter  Dill  Scott, 
of  the  Northwestern  University,  who  has  thoroughly  investigated 
the  subject,  states  as  the  result  of  his  studies  that  a  full- page 
advertisement  has  25  times  the  value  of  a  half  page,  and  a  half 
page  is  15  times  more  valuable  than  a  quarter  page.  The  constant 
use  of  large  space  gives  prestige  to  the  advertiser.  The  public 
argues  that  no  firm  will  continue  to  spend  the  big  sum  it  repre- 
sents unless  the  article  exploited  possesses  substantial  merit  and 
the  advertiser  is  honest.  While  page  advertisements  are  the  rule 
in  national  magazines  they  have  not  been  employed  in  newspapers 
by  general  advertisers  very  extensively  until  within  the  past 
year  or  two,  when  it  has  not  been  unusual  to  see  four-  or  five-page 
ads  in  a  single  issue  of  the  big  city  dailies.  This  change  in 
attitude  no  doubt  is  due  in  large  part  to  the  example  set  during 
the  great  war  by  the  Liberty  Loan  and  Red  Cross  advertising. 

While  large  space  has  many  advantages  there  is  a  considerable 
number  of  firms  that  have  built  up  a  wonderfully  successful  busi- 
ness by  the  aid  of  small  advertisements.  It  has  often  been  said 
that  it  requires  greater  skill  to  write  a  3-  or  4-  in.  single- column 
ad,  than  one  occupying  half  a  page.  Small  advertisements 
should  contain  only  one  or  two  well- constructed  arguments  briefly 
expressed  and  the  illustrations  should  be  confined  to  a  single  figure. 
The  advertiser  who  uses  advertising  space  regularly,  no  matter 
how  small  it  may  be,  gets  the  reputation  of  being  a  much  larger 
advertiser  than  he  really  is. 

The  Association  of  National  Advertisers,  which  is  composed 
of  320  of  the  leading  national  advertisers,  is  of  great  service  to 
its  members  in  supplying  information  of  a  vital  character.  It 
employs  an  efficient  staff  of  investigators  and  others  for  the 
collection  and  analysis  of  data  relating  to  advertising  and  to 
marketing.  Through  its  assistance  millions  of  dollars  have 
been  saved  to  its  members. 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ADVERTISER  115 

Questions 

1.  Who  are  the  largest  national  advertisers? 

2.  Give  the  names  of  six  with  whose  products  you  are  familiar. 

3.  How  would  you  select  an  advertising  agent? 

4.  What  mediums  are  employed  in  national  advertising? 

6.  Upon  what  does  the  selection  of  the  right  mediums  for  advertising  a 
product  depend? 

6.  In  what  kinds  of  mediums  would  you  advertise  grape  juice?     Ma- 
chinery used  in  the  manufacture  of  textiles?     Refrigerators  for  apartment 
houses  and  hotels?     A  beauty  toilet  soap? 

7.  If,  after  running  a  well-planned  advertising  campaign  for  six  months 
your  sales  had  not  materially  increased,  what  would  you  conclude  was  the 
trouble? 

8.  How  is  the  character  of  the  copy  to  be  determined? 

9.  What  three  things  are  essential  to  good  advertising? 

10.  Why  is  variety  in  copy  and  style  desirable? 

11.  When  a  manufacturer  as  the  result  of  several  years  of  advertising 
has  secured  country-wide  distribution  for  his  product,  why  shouldn't  he 
stop  advertising  and  save  the  cost? 

12.  In  advertising  a  medical  preparation  would  you  use  the  same  copy  in 
all  parts  of  the  country?     Why  not? 

13.  What  are  follow-up  letters  and  when  should  they  be  used? 

14.  How  much  money  should  a  manufacturer  invest  in  advertising? 
Give  examples. 

15.  Discuss  the  relative  value  of  large  and  small  advertisements. 


CHAPTER  X 
RETAIL  ADVERTISING 

By  retail  or  local  advertising  we  usually  mean  the  kind  of 
advertising  employed  by  merchants  and  others  in  selling  goods 
to  individual  consumers.  But  it  also  includes  the  advertising 
used  by  professional  men  like  dentists,  lawyers,  architects  and 
civil  engineers  to  get  clients;  by  churches  to  gain  members  or 
fill  empty  pews:  by  theatres  to  draw  audiences,  and  by  municipal 
candidates  for  office  to  win  voters.  All  help  and  situations 
wanted,  for  sale,  to  let,  lost  and  found  or  other  classified 
advertisements  come  under  this  head. 

Retail  advertising  differs  from  national  advertising  in  two 
general  ways:  first,  in  being  confined  to  a  town,  city,  or  district; 
and,  second,  in  the  character  of  the  copy  used. 

While  the  ultimate  object  of  most  advertising  is  to  market 
merchandise,  retail  advertising  must  first  induce  the  public  to 
visit  the  store  where  the  goods  are  on  sale,  or  the  offices  where 
service  is  to  be  rendered.  There  is,  of  course,  a  limit  to  the 
distance  from  which  a  merchant  can  hope  to  draw  customers, 
the  limit  varying  in  different  sections  of  the  country.  In  the 
far  West  where  the  trade  centers  are  widely  scattered  people 
drive  long  distances  to  do  their  shopping.  The  sales  of  these 
small  town  merchants  are  frequently  as  large  as  those  of  retail 
stores  in  cities  of  50,000  or  more  population.  For  instance,  in 
Devils  Lake,  North  Dakota,  a  town  of  5,500  inhabitants,  there 
is  a  merchant  who  is  doing  a  business  of  $600,000  a  year,  the 
result  of  enterprising  sales  methods  and  the  right  kind  of  adver- 
tising. Customers  are  drawn  to  the  store  from  points  40  miles 
distant  in  one  direction  and  90  miles  in  another. 

How  to  Get  People  to  Visit  the  Store. — Many  things  can  be 
done  .to  induce  the  public  to  come  to  the  store.  Some  of  them 
are  the  following: 

116 


RETAIL  ADVERTISING  117 

Give  the  Price  of  the  Different  Kinds  of  Goods  You  Have  to 
Sell. — People  want  to  know  how  much  articles  cost  before  they  go 
shopping  in  order  that  they  may  determine  beforehand  whether 
they  can  afford  to  buy  them.  Most  women  desire  to  keep  the 
household  or  their  personal  expenses  within  a  certain  limit  which 
is  fixed  by  the  family  income.  The  quoting  of  prices  helps 
them  in  selecting  what  they  can  afford  to  buy.  No  woman 
likes  to  go  to  a  store  with  her  mind  made  up  to  purchase  an 
article  and  be  told  a  price  that  is  so  much  more  than  she  was 
prepared  to  pay  that  she  cannot  buy  it. 

Create  an  Interest  in  the  Store. — This  may  be  done  by  taking 
advantage  of  news  events,  such  as  the  season's  anniversaries, 
national  holidays,  and  local  celebrations  in  your  advertising. 
For  instance,  the  Fourth  of  July  marks  the  beginning  of  the 
vacation  season.  This  suggests  the  desirability  of  advertising 
for  two  weeks  before  that  event  and  two  weeks  or  more  afterwards 
the  things  that  people  will  need  during  their  stay  in  the  country 
or  at  the  seashore,  such  as  outing  suits,  sport  hats,  trunks,  suit- 
cases, handbags,  bathing  suits,  fishing  tackle,  camp  outfits,  tennis 
rackets,  golf  sticks,  croquet  sets,  tents  and  many  other  articles. 

September  marks  the  beginning  of  the  school  year  when  the 
children  are  to  be  fitted  out  with  suitable  clothes  for  the  fall 
and  winter  months;  when  books,  lunch  boxes,  pencils,  paper, 
rulers  and  other  articles  for  use  in  the  schoolroom  are  to  be 
purchased.  It  is  also  the  time  when  people  buy  furniture  and 
other  household  effects;  when  new  suits  and  hats  are  needed. 
Thanksgiving,  Christmas,  New  Year's  and  Easter  are  occasions 
for  special  sales  of  seasonable  articles.  January  is  the  month  of 
white  sales,  August  of  furniture  sales,  and  so  on. 

Play  up  the  New  and  Novel  Things  in  Your  Advertising  and 
Thus  Arouse  Curiosity. — People  like  novelty.  Anything  that 
is  radically  different  from  the  general  run  of  merchandise  appeals 
to  them.  They  want  to  see  such  articles  even  though  they  may 
not  want  to  buy  them.  They  like  to  keep  posted  on  store  news 
just  as  they  do  on  local  or  national  happenings.  Call  attention 
to  special  displays  of  goods,  to  demonstrations  that  are  being 
given  in  the  store,  and  to  important  "openings"  in  the  millinery 
and  dress  departments. 


118  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Make  the  Store  Itself  Attractive. — Have  it  well  lighted.  Don't 
skimp  on  your  electric  illumination  during  the  dark  hours  of  the 
day.  People  like  brightness  in  the  shops  where  they  trade. 
Have  the  walls  and  ceilings  painted  in  cheerful  colors.  Provide 
rest  rooms,  and  chairs  or  stools  throughout  the  store  for  tired 
women.  Don't  allow  your  clerks  to  over-urge  people  to  buy 
goods.  The  better  class  of  trade  will  keep  away  from  stores 
where  it  is  done.  A  cheerful  store,  intelligent  clerks,  good  service 
and  reliable  merchandise  is  a  winning  combination. 

The  strongest  and  most  productive  retail  advertising  is  usually 
to  be  found  in  the  big  cities  where  stores  are  numerous  and  com- 
petition keenest.  The  latter  command  the  best  advertising 
talent  because  they  pay  the  largest  salaries.  The  lure  of  great 
centers  of  business  draws  to  them  men  who  are  ambitious, 
resourceful  and  eager  to  win  places  for  themselves.  The  intense 
rivalry  between  the  department  and  other  leading  retail  stores 
in  all  lines  of  trade  is  a  constant  stimulus  to  advertisement 
writers. 

The  big  cities,  however,  do  not  monopolize  all  of  the  good 
talent,  by  any  means.  The  instruction  in  advertising  now  given 
in  many  schools,  colleges  and  universities  is  working  wonders  in 
disseminating  a  practical  knowledge  of  advertisement  construc- 
tion among  merchants.  The  result  is  seen  in  the  marked  im- 
provement that  has  taken  place  in  the  character  of  the  copy  put 
out  in  practically  all  of  the  cities  and  towns  of  the  country  during 
the  last  few  years. 

Outstanding  Characteristics  of  Successful  Retail  Advertising 
Copy. — First  it  should  possess  a  news  interest  that  is  not  found 
in  the  long-range  general  advertising  appearing  in  the  maga- 
zines and  periodicals.  The  chronicling  of  the  arrival  of  new 
styles  in  dress  goods,  millinery,  and  other  things  dear  to  the 
feminine  heart;  the  announcements  of  special  sales  of  household 
furnishings  and  supplies,  are  as  eagerly  read  by  women  as  the 
record  of  local  happenings  in  the  news  columns. 

Women  are  more  interested  in  the  latest  fashions  on  display  at 
the  leading  department  or  dry  goods  store  than  they  are  in  the 
report  of  a  Peace  Conference  or  a  Congressional  debate.  They 
buy  the  most  of  the  things  that  go  into  the  home.  From  50  to 


RETAIL  ADVERTISING  119 

90  per  cent,  of  the  men's  underwear  is  purchased  by  women, 
who  also  have  much  to  say  in  the  selection  of  men's  hats,  shoes 
and  suits  of  clothes.  Being  constantly  in  the  market  for  goods 
of  one  kind  or  another  they  are  ever  on  the  lookout  for  store  news. 
The  merchant  who  knows  best  how  to  create  a  news  interest  in 
his  advertising,  providing,  of  course,  he  has  the  confidence  of  the 
community,  will  draw  the  largest  percentage  of  trade. 

Second,  retail  advertising  copy  should  have  individuality  in 
order  that  it  may  be  easily  identified  by  the  reader.  People  soon 
learn  to  distinguish  the  advertisements  of  one  store  from  those  of 
another  without  looking  at  the  name  plate,  the  determining 
factors  being  the  typography,  the  way  the  goods  are  described, 
or  the  style  of  the  illustrations.  Usually  the  advertising  of  a 
store  reflects  the  personality  of  the  owner.  Therefore,  after 
reading  a  series  of  his  announcements  you  can  get  a  fairly 
accurate  idea  of  his  character.  If  they  are  bombastic,  contain 
exaggerated  or  misleading  statements  as  to  values  or  prices,  you 
are  warranted  in  believing  that  the  advertiser  is  a  trickster  and 
a  cheat.  On  the  other  hand,  if  they  are  straightforward,  tell 
the  truth,  and  are  conservative  in  statement  you  are  not  mistaken 
in  believing  that  he  is  honest  and  dependable. 

The  advertisements  of  John  Wanamaker  have  marked  individ- 
uality and  are  regarded  as  models  of  their  kind.  They  are 
attractive  in  appearance  and  easy  to  read.  They  are  written  in 
such  an  interesting  way  that  you  often  forget  for  the  moment  that 
they  are  advertisements  and  think  you  are  reading  a  page  from 
a  book  of  travel  or  a  romance.  They  are  cheerful  in  spirit  and 
educational  in  purpose.  From  them  you  receive  the  impression 
that  Mr.  Wanamaker  is  an  optimist  and  practices  the  golden 
rule. 

It  should  be  the  constant  aim  of  the  retailer  in  his  advertising 
to  build  confidence  and  good  will,  two  of  the  best  assets  he  can 
possibly  have.  He  should  never  publish  statements  about  his 
merchandise  that  he  cannot  prove.  If  he  makes  a  mistake  he 
should  acknowledge  the  error  and  make  good  any  loss  entailed 
by  his  customers  resulting  from  it.  Advertising  is  retroactive. 
Rightly  used  it  builds  a  reputation  that  must  be  lived  up  to. 
It  erects  standards  that  must  be  maintained  or  the  whole  struc- 


120  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

ture  of  confidence  will  come  tumbling  to  the  ground.  There 
have  been  instances  in  which  advertising  has  revolutionized 
store  policies  and  store  methods  by  creating  good  will  of  such 
enormous  value  that  the  very  foundation  of  the  business  had 
to  be  rebuilt  to  support  it. 

Some  Suggestions  Regarding  the  Writing  of  Retail  Copy  That 
Will  Be  Helpful. — Give  prices  but  don't  lie  in  quoting  them.  If 
you  have  a  special  sale  of  goods  name  the  price  at  which  you  have 
been  selling  them  and  the  cut  price.  Don't  say  an  article  "is 
worth  $2,  but  we  are  selling  it  for  50  cents."  If  it  was  really 
worth  $2  you  certainly  would  not  sell  it  at  any  such  reduction. 
It  may  have  been  worth  $2  at  one  time,  but  because  of  a  change 
in  style  or  because  it  has  become  shopworn  it  is  not  worth  a  cent 
more  than  you  now  charge  for  it.  What  you  can  truthfully  say 
is  that  "we  formerly  sold  the  article  for  $2,  but  because  it  is  now 
out  of  style  we  have  cut  the  price  to  50  cents." 

Avoid  Comparative  Prices. — There  may  occasionally  be  a 
tune  when  their  use  is  warranted  as,  for  instance,  when  you  are 
getting  rid  of  left-overs,  odd  sizes,  etc.,  at  the  end  of  the  season. 
The  trouble  with  comparative  prices  is  that  they  are  in  most  cases 
misleading.  For  instance,  a  shirtwaist  is  advertised  thus: 
Price  $3,  worth  $4.25.  How  is  the  reader  to  know  that  the 
statement  is  true?  Whose  estimate  of  value  is  it,  the  manu- 
facturer's or  the  retailer's?  Is  it  at  all  likely  that  a  merchant 
will  sell  an  article  for  33^  per  cent,  less  than  it  is  worth  if  he 
could  get  more?  In  most  cases  he  uses  comparative  prices  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  making  the  public  think  that  the  article  is 
better  than  it  really  is.  Women  often  know  values  just  as 
accurately  as  the  retailers.  If  they  find,  upon  examination,  that 
the  goods  are  not  worth  any  more  than  is  charged  for  them  they 
will  lose  confidence  in  the  store. 

Do  not  Over -emphasize  Price  in  Retail  Advertising. — Unless 
a  merchant  wants  his  store  to  be  known  as  a  "bargain  house"  or 
a  "  Cheap  John "  shop  he  should  be  careful  how  he  uses  prices  to 
attract  trade .  While  the  patronage  of  bargain  hunters  is  not  to  be 
despised  nevertheless  the  most  desirable  customers  are  those  who 
consider  quality  first  and  price  next.  They  know  that  the  better 
classes  of  goods  give  the  greater  satisfaction  and  are  therefore 


RETAIL  ADVERTISING  121 

the  most  economical  to  buy.  Those  who  purchase  them  con- 
stitute the  backbone  of  the  retail  business  in  nearly  every  com- 
munity and  it  is  their  patronage  that  the  merchant  should  seek. 
As  the  quality  appeal  carries  great  weight  with  them  the  adver- 
tiser should  lay  considerable  stress  upon  it  in  his  advertising. 

Adapt  Your  Copy  to  Your  Audience. — Don't  use  pedantic 
language  at  any  time.     Educated  and  refined  people  dislike  it 


In  full  swing  now! 

Revisions! 

All  through  our  men's 
Summer  suits. 

$50  to  $75  now  for  quali- 
ties that  were  much  more. 

ROGERS  PEET  COMPANY 

.Broadway  Broadway' 

at  isth  St.          "Four  at  34th  St. 

Convenient 

Broadway          Corners"  Fifth  Ave. 

at  Warren.  at  4ist  St.  , 

The  Rogers  Peet  Company  style  of  advertising  has  many  imitators  but  none 
are  as  good  as  the  original.  The  ads  which  are  in  one-column  measure,  carry  a 
humorous  picture  at  the  top.  The  type  is  Bookman.  Note  the  short,  crisp 
sentences  which  are  characteristic  of  all  Rogers  Peet  copy. 

and  those  whose  school  days  have  been  few  do  not  understand  it. 
The  safest  plan  to  pursue  is  to  write  your  copy  in  plain,  simple, 
everyday  English,  using  short  sentences  and  appropriate 
illustrations.  You  will  then  be  certain  that  your  message  will 
reach  all  classes.  Avoid  the  use  of  long  words  or  those  not 
commonly  employed  in  the  newspapers.  The  only  exceptions 
are  the  technical  or  trade  terms  used  in  the  description  of  new 
fabrics  for  women's  wear. 


122 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


FRANKLIN  SIMON   MEN'S  SHOPS 
2  to  8  WEST  38th  STREET 


Men's  English 
Foulard  Scarfs 

Hand-Made 

8150 

This  season's  importation 
Last  season's  price 

WHILE  some  shops  are  ask- 
ing $1.75  for  machine-made 
foulards,  we  are  asking  only  $1.50 
for  a  hand-made  scarf  of  imported 
material.  No  other  men's  shop 
offers  so  much  to  its  patrons  or 
demands  so  little  for  itself. 

The  variety  in  these  foulards  is 
prodigious.  A  pandemonium  of 
patterns  and  a  chaos  of  color — 
and  yet — discrimination  chaperon- 
ing both.  Please  look  them  over. 

Bat  Wings  $1.00 


FIFTH  AVENUE 


Retail  advertisements  like  the  above  win  perusal  from  busy  men  because  the 
display  lines,  which  can  be  taken  in  at  a  glance,  tell  what  they  are  about.  The 
headlines  are  set  in  Bodoni  Bold  and  the  body  matter  in  Bookman. 


RETAIL  ADVERTISING  123 

If  your  advertisements  are  to  appear  in  high-grade  class  pub- 
lications which  circulate  only  among  people  of  wealth  and  position, 
greater  attention  should  be  given  to  the  quality  of  both  the  text 
and  the  illustrations.  A  well-dressed  and  well-groomed  salesman 


Stern  Brothers 

West  42nd  Street  (Between  5 A  and  6th  Avenues)   West  43rd  Street 


WOMEN'S  HIGH-GRADE 

PUMPS  and  OXFORDS 

r=  REDUCED  T0= 

$8.85 


Below  Original  Cost 

A  variety  of  distinctive  models — suitable  for  'dress 
or  general  wear— developed  in  selected  grades  of 

Tan  Russia  Calfskin  dazed  Kid 

Patent  Collskin  Matt  Kid 

Gun  Metal  Brown  Kid 

—Military,  Dolly  or  Lours  XV  Heels. 
— Hand  •  Turned  or  Welled  Sole. 


It  is  the  usual  practice  to  employ  cuts  in  both  wholesale  and  retail  shoe  adver- 
tisements. That  a  shoe  ad  can  be  made  attractive  without  illustrations  is  shown 
by  the  Stern  Brothers  announcement  above. 

who  uses  correct  English  in  conversation  can  secure  a  hearing 
among  high-class  business  men  which  would  be  denied  to  the 
salesman  who  wears  ill-fitting  clothes  and  betrays  his  lack  of  an 
education  by  coarse  and  ungrammatical  language. 


124 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


On  the  other  hand  in  advertisements  addressed  to  a  community 
largely  composed  of  toilers  in  workshops  and  factories,  the 
simplest  kind  of  language  should  be  employed.  What  the  latter 
want  are  facts  briefly  stated  in  words  with  which  they  are  familiar. 
They  like  chatty  talk  with  plenty  of  pictures  that  tell  their  own 
story. 


•>«-»^i-ran.«-a^.|agia 


9"he  Dcbts-knit  Top  Jacket,  shown 
in  the  illustration,  is  offifed  in  a  va- 
riety of  attractive  mixtures .  Dobbs- 
tailored  with  exquisite  nkiety  of  de- 
tail. A  Dobbs  Hat.  DobbsShirtand 
Dobbs  Skirt  complete  the  costume. 
"IheTop  Jacket  is  F(fty  Dollars. 

Sbc-tvenQr  Fifth  Avon* 


This  Dobbs  ad  possesses  character  and  individuality.     Its  artistic  design  and 
its  quiet  tone  appeals  to  people  of  refinement  and  good  taste. 

Avoid  Superlatives. — Don't  say  that  an  article  is  "the  best 
made"  or  that  you  have  "the  finest  line  of  merchandise  in  the 
State,"  or  that  you  offer  "the  most  wonderful  bargains  ever 
seen  in  this  city."  How  ridiculous  it  is  for  a  merchant  occupy- 
ing a  small  three-story  building  to  advertise  that  he  carries  the 
"  greatest  assortment  of  dry -goods  in  the  city,  "when  right  across 
the  street  is  a  department  store,  occupying  an  entire  block,  that 


RETAIL  ADVERTISING 


125 


sells  more  goods  in  a  day  than  he  sells  in  several  months.  What 
is  the  use  of  lying  when  the  truth  is  so  much  more  effective? 
You  cannot  safely  say  that  anything  is  "the  best"  because  you 
don't  know  and  you  cannot  know.  There  are  enough  plain  adjec- 
tives to  use  in  describing  the  store  or  the  goods  it  carries  without 
employing  superlatives.  It  is  better  to  understate  than  to  over- 
state the  quality  of  merchandise. 


STORE  HOURS  9:30  A.  M.  to  6  P.  M. 


you  get  nto  a 
Saks-tailo  red  garment 
you  just  can't  help  feel- 
ing the  least  bit  conscious 
of  the  quality. 

The  feeling  may  wear  off 
but  the  quality  won't! 


BROADWAY    AT    34th    STREET 


Small  space  utilized  to  its  full  value.  One  of  a  series  of  Saks  ads  that  appeared 
in  New  York  dailies.  Just  a  sentence  or  two,  set  in  large  plain  type,  with  the 
name  plates  at  top  and  bottom,  enclosed  in  a  double  4-point  border. 

Get  Your  Clerks  Interested  in  Your  Advertising. — Every 
employee  in  the  store  should  be  "sold  "  on  the  firm's  advertising. 
Without  the  hearty  cooperation  of  the  clerks  half  the  value  of 
the  advertising  will  be  lost.  They  ought  to  see  in  advance  of 
publication  every  advertisement  that  appears  that  they  may 
intelligently  answer  the  inquiries  of  customers  who  ask  about  the 
day's  offerings.  In  order  to  get  them  to  read  carefully  each 


126  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

advertisement,  some  firms  offer  a  prize  of  $5  to  any  clerk  who  finds 
an  error  in  it. 

If  all  the  clerks  are  furnished  correct  information  about  the 
merchandise  they  sell  their  efficiency  behind  the  counter  will  be 
greatly  augmented.  Many  a  sale  has  been  lost  because  they 
were  not  sufficiently  posted  to  answer  convincingly  the  questions 
of  customers.  The  girl  at  the  hosiery  counter  ought  to  know 


temfi  and  shades  juring  Au[uit 

WHILE  we  do  not 
wish  to  cry  "wolf, 
wolf,  it  is  nevertheless 
true,  that  it  is  impossible 
to  replace,  at  the  same  pri- 
ces, many  lamps  and 
shades  in  the  Ovington 
showing,  which',  during 
August,  may  be  had  at  dis- 
counts of  10%  to  50%. 

OVINGTON'S 

"Tbt  Gift  Skop  ef  Fifth  Avenue" 

314  Fifth  Ave.  nr,  32d  St. 


Ovington's  small  ads — they  seldom  run  over  three  inches — are  models  of  their 
kind.  They  are  set  in  Bookman,  with  a  two-line  initial,  carry  a  single  figure 
illustration  and  are  framed  in  an  artistic  border. 

why  the  brands  she  sells  are  better  than  some  others.  She 
should  be  informed  as  to  the  different  weaves,  the  effect  of  dyes 
upon  the  wearing  quality  of  the  hose,  how  silk  stockings  should 
be  washed,  and  a  hundred  other  things  that  will  be  helpful  to 
the  customer.  The  man  who  sells  shoes  should  be  a  mine  of 
information  on  the  entire  subject  of  footwear.  He  should  be 
acquainted  with  all  kinds  of  leather,  should  know  when  to  recom- 
mend a  straight  last  and  when  Q,  curved;  he  ought  to  be  able  to 


RETAIL  ADVERTISING  127 

fit  anyone  with  the  proper  kind  of  foot  covering.  With  intelli- 
gent clerks  behind  the  counter,  people  who  take  a  real  interest 
in  their  work,  a  store  is  in  a  position  to  render  the  public  a  real 
service. 

The  mediums  employed  in  retail  advertising  are  newspapers, 
street  car  cards,  posters,  booklets,  catalogs,  letters  and  store 
windows.  Department  stores  in  the  larger  cities  use  them  all. 
In  the  smaller  cities  retailers  confine  their  advertising  to  one  or 
two  newspapers  and  to  their  store  windows.  Of  these  mediums 
newspapers  have  the  lead  in  popularity  for  reasons  that  will  be 
given  in  another  chapter.  There  are  few  towns  with  a  popula- 
tion of  500  in  which  there  is  not  at  least  one  newspaper  published. 
Therefore  it  is  the  most  available  and  the  most  direct  means  of 
reaching  customers  and  prospective  patrons  of  the  store  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  show  windows. 

Window  Displays. — Many  retailers  fail  to  make  full  use  of  the 
store  windows  in  advertising  their  goods.  Sometimes  the 
clerks  are  too  busy  or  too  lazy  to  dress  them  attractively.  In 
the  big  department  stores  expert  window  dressers  who  draw 
large  salaries  are  employed  to  do  the  work.  In  the  average 
retail  establishment  one  of  the  clerks  who  has  shown  that  he 
possesses  better  taste  in  planning  displays  than  the  others  is 
entrusted  with  the  job.  Even  in  the  country  towns  there  is 
little  excuse  for  poor  window  dressing  as  there  are  half  a  dozen 
trade  papers  that  devote  much  attention  to  the  subject.  At 
least  one  periodical  is  wholly  devoted  to  it.  These  tell  how  to 
arrange  artistic  displays  that  will  attract  attention  to  the  store. 
Then,  too,  many  manufacturers  employ  traveling  window  dressers 
to  call  on  retailers  who  handle  their  goods  and  show  them  how  to 
make  effective  displays. 

Manufacturers  who  do  not  send  out  special  men  for  the  purpose 
often  supply  ready-made  window  displays  or  furnish  full  descrip- 
tions of  several  designs  which  any  intelligent  clerk  can  lay  out 
himself. 

One  of  the  main  advantages  of  window  .advertising  is  that  you 
can  show  the  goods  amid  attractive  and  appropriate  surroundings. 
By  the  aid  of  wax  figures  you  can  display  gowns,  hats  and  other 
apparel  worn  by  women,  almost  as  effectively  as  you  could  upon 


128 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


THE   KEWTORK    TIMES.    SVCTAY.^  MJCUST     1.    19».  . 


Sale  Begins  Monday  9  A.  M. 

An  Economy  Event  Watched  For  and  Taken  Advantage  Of 
By  Home  Makers 

people  look  forward  to  our  Mid-Summer  Sale  of          Hut  year  will  prove  no  exception  to  the  high  reputation  daioed  t 
caaiaioaeMurebeeiu2tdbrthemai,r  inquirietthM          our  preriotii  evenn.    Plant  arc  complete  and  we  tut  ready. 


odFumimicomraaineaMrebeffaugedby  the  majyinquirie*  that          our  prerioui  event*.    Plant  are  complete  and  we  art  ready. 

For  many  yean,  people  ha<re  instinctively  turned  to  E&&9  Furnt- .        conuiteticly  knveu-Irvchc-c.tr  prices. 

Un,  confident  that  new  hofnn  could  be  fumithed  and  old  one*  re-          Suiies  and  odd  piece*  ot  funuture  for  io*r  home  arc  auembled  M>  chat 
twd  with  a  uiirum.ua  of  ciDen«e-  aadtfactory  iclechoa  it  aNurcd. 

For  Your  Dining  Room 


furaiined  with 

For  Your  living  Room 


l  prte.  »»UO 
OfAn-  iUtlrw  Boom 


Odd  Arm  Chain  "— — — 

•  ^^'gyggutaa  For  Your  Bedroom 

tf~~}  f~*.  P»A  g,,,.,  ,y  propottlon  mat  i-Mtja  ot  period  to  featured. 

*-                CdVCha  flOrrtNaUnd  kd  Rtom-ftukix-fil-kinifiaaM  dcfdtnton;  nfu  AijUTj   «l 

RiSrS.,jiJUJl'"r"-  hu    «a    t*d.'°i«««r,     diLffc*^         •wmtin't  mMtin,  rf  d™.1.^ 

»«Cwtii-.«ni*«iiiTie«UT."ti**«i»«'«*«''""o™.l(«-*lt**  toOH  Ufck;  fa«  piccfav  MM*.               full  «i«  bed,  rtiiKwot*.  taki  Utk; 

BBsSB*-*^-M!^---«*i  •caK.as.sf'**'  iS*jS.jL.g.j 


ntuci>      «»  o.' 

Brtaifa-l  Room  Soltea 


Bedroom  Furniture 


SS^S^S^ 

S^S.T'ij!.!  SSSr.iJS; 
c»:«u~.  «j<  SS5?k  . .  JH 

^^,ullllt 


eiaeb»d«tekbc»looiboerd,dett.er.    curff  MreA  Tencer  "wite,  eontlrtinj 
jcJrt^,bk.eL,  »»       ^•.'1£^y^°g55;;^1 

Metal  Beds  and  Bedding 

iu>d.  (nr  the  Fill  tilled  en«dilic*»lr.  efdcwrttx  ui,  . 

fe1^!.".-: ,'  .  •  ;.. 


_s    *-^»> —  *        :;,. sw 

Herald  Se,iu»         t^/lC.   </          Nt"  Yo'k 


One  of  R.  H.  Macy  &  Co.  department  store,  page  newspaper  ada,  showing  what 
can  be  done  without  column  rules  or  divisional  panels.  Their  absence  does  not 
confuse  the  reader  because  white  space  is  judiciously  employed  to  separate  the 
individual  announcements. 


RETAIL  ADVERTISING 


129 


.L.HUDSON  COMPANY 


Today  Saw  the  Beginning,  of  Two  Events  of  Extraordinary 

Interest  to  Women 


This  Great  Mid-Summer  Sale 

Has  An  Extraordinary  Showing 

of  Living  Room  Furniture 

At  Prlcet  .loir  Will  Hardly  Watt  to  Mia  . 


t^HMI  hlMTJ*     fi  I        II     II  •» 

Come  and  See  the  Sale 


T*iH».fc«*.»— ^  III    I          «.! 

IMi »-«  wUty^l      I  Hi    h  »rtlk  *U>   *~   OKI 

Tht  Pnblk  Is  Now  Giricg  Its  Veriict 


^yagg> 

0«  ti»  r»t>  FVxir  of  tfc«  F>n«r  St  A  Woodnrd  An  t 


Many  Unusual  Values 
in  the  Girls'  Shop 


Important— A  Sale  of  2,500 
Women's  Blouses  at  J3.95 


BBfa-^irTis 


In  the  Infants'  Shop 


Mid-Summer 

Sale  of  Rugs 


40  Bot>  «t  S15S 


6  Bngi  at  M9.50 


PilloWCases,  Etc. 


GnrtoMn*  ft  auuni*!  trait  ttatbMaBltlfoBdMM 

£tdt  tkji^  to  b*  abte  to  HT  puaiUMij  *fc^  w«  OTMUv  **^*  It 
bMi>oth«li>«IB>ltiitt»!iitt<»T<i<&i*m 


eoWkte  d  tbwt  *• 


. . 

wSrtis^E'iicvass  jj5:*sri.ca'    " " 

r«~i,  .*  T 


Over  a  Quarter  of  a  Million  Dollars  in 
Coats  and  Small  Fora 


>.^s!"n£^mrtr<s 


Another  style  of  departmeDt  store  full  page  advertising.  The  Hudson  Com- 
pany has  its  own  ideas  about  typographical  arrangement.  The  relative  impor- 
tance of  the  several  offerings  is  indicated  by  the  size  of  the  headlines. 


130  •        ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

living  models.  One  of  Pittsburgh's  leading  department  stores 
gives  such  an  artistic  setting  to  its  displays  that  women  come  long 
distances  to  see  them.  As  there  is  practically  no  limit  to  the 
advertising  possibilities  of  window  displays,  a  wide-awake  mer- 
chant ought  to  dress  his  windows  at  least  once  a  week. 

In  giving  advice  to  a  young  merchant  on  how  to  build  up  a 
successful  business,  one  of  New  York's  largest  retailers  of  men's 
clothes  said:  "Make  the  front  attractive  through  seasonable  and 
appealing  window  displays.  Learn  the  names  of  your  regular 
customers  so  that  you  can  properly  address  them  when  they  call 
to  make  purchases .  Keep  your  store  up-to-date  in  its  appoint- 
ments so  that  people  will  like  to  visit  it  because  of  its  cheerful 
appearance.  Get  rid  of  your  old  stock  at  a  loss  if  necessary. 
Shelf  room  costs  money.  The  greater  the  percentage  of  your 
turn-over,  the  lower  the  selling  expense  and  the  smaller  the  capital 
required  to  handle  the  business.  And  last,  and  most  important 
of  all,  advertise  attractively  what  you  have  to  sell." 

Keep  a  Card  Index  of  Customers. — Whenever  you  have  an 
opening  sale  of  millinery  or  women's  gowns,  send  a  letter  on 
choice  stationery  to  those  whose  patronage  you  specially  ap- 
preciate, inviting  them  to  visit  the  store  a  day  ahead  of  the  pub- 
lished date  and  inspect  the  new  season's  styles.  Enclose  a  card 
bearing  the  customer's  name  and  entitling  her  to  admission  to 
the  show  rooms.  The  women  who  receive  these  invitations  will 
appreciate  the  favor  and  their  good  will  toward  the  store  will  be 
strengthened. 

Men  are  just  as  appreciative  of  any  special  attention.  If  you 
deal  in  men's  clothes  and  haberdashery  and  are  putting  on  a 
special  sale  of  overcoats  or  suits,  before  you  announce  it  in  the 
newspapers  send  your  regular  customers  a  short  business-like 
letter  calling  their  attention  to  it.  Having  been  tipped  off  in  this 
way  they  will  be  ready  to  take  advantage  of  the  bargains  you 
offer  on  the  opening  day.  In  many  cases  they  will  call  up  on 
the  telephone  and  ask  you  to  pick  out  an  overcoat  or  suit  for 
them  and  hold  it  until  they  can  visit  the  store.  As  you  have 
their  sizes  on  record  in  the  store  and  know  the  kind  of  clothes 
they  want  it  will  be  an  easy  matter  for  you  to  do  this.  Men  do 
not  have  as  much  time  to  shop  as  women  and  are  therefore  grateful 


RETAIL  ADVERTISING  131 

for  any  cooperation  the  dealer  may  give  that  will  help  them  to 
get  what  they  want. 

Questions 

1.  In  advertising  a  retail  business  what  is  the  first  object  to  be  attained? 

2.  From  what  distance  can  a  store  draw  trade? 

3.  What  are  some  of  the  things  that  can  be  done  to  induce  people  to  visit 
the  store? 

4.  What  are  some  of  the  characteristics  of  successful  retail  copy? 

6.  What  can  you  say  about  the  importance  of  giving  individuality  to  a 
merchant's  advertising? 

6.  What  are  the  striking  features  of  John  Wanamaker's  advertising? 

7.  Give  five  suggestions  regarding  the  preparation  of  retail  copy. 

8.  How  can  the  interest  of  the  clerks  in  the  advertising  be  stimulated? 

9.  How  can  their  efficiency  be  improved? 

10.  What  mediums  are  employed  in  retail  advertising? 

11.  What  can  be  done  to  make  the  show  windows  sell  goods? 
12  How  can  a  card  index  help  the  retail  merchant? 


CHAPTER  XI 
WHY  ADVERTISE  IN  THE  NEWSPAPERS 

Ours  is  a  nation  of  newspaper  readers.  The  average  American 
would  as  soon  think  of  going  without  his  breakfast  as  without 
his  morning  or  evening  paper.  And  in  those  sections  of  the 
country  that  are  remote  from  the  big  centers  where  dailies  are 
published  the  people  are  no  less  eager  in  devouring  the  weeklies 
which  bring  to  their  doors  the  news  of  the  local  field  and  the 
great  outside  world  lying  beyond  the  horizon.  It  is  because  of 
their  universal  distribution,  the  thoroughness  with  which  they 
are  read,  and  the  reasonableness  of  their  charges  for  space  that 
newspapers  have  become  the  most  popular  of  all  advertising 
mediums.  When  it  is  remembered  that  there  are  several  thou- 
sand towns  and  cities  having  less  than  1,000  inhabitants,  in 
which  at  least  one  newspaper  is  published,  and  whose  continued 
existence  would  be  impossible  without  advertising,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  great  centers  of  population  have  no  monopoly  of  this 
particular  medium. 

Advantages  of  Newspaper  Advertising. — 1.  Newspaper  advo- 
cates claim  that  newspaper  advertising  is  the  cheapest  advertising 
known  because  it  reaches  more  people  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  money  expended  than  any  other  medium. 

William  H.  Rankin,  of  Chicago,  an  advertising  agent  of  wide 
experience,  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  a  quarter  of  a 
page  advertisement  can  be  placed  in  every  daily,  weekly,  bi- 
weekly and  tri-weekly  newspaper,  representing  a  total  circulation 
of  46,000,000  copies  for  less  than  $200,000. 

Harry  C.  Prudden,  one  of  the  most  experienced  space  buyers  in 
New  York,  a  short  time  ago  estimated  the  circulation  of  the 
2,044  daily  newspapers  in  the  United  States  at  26,595,204  copies. 
A  recent  estimate  based  upon  Government  and  Audit  Bureau 
of  Circulations  reports  gives  the  circulation  of  all  the  morning 
newspapers  at  10,271,137  and  of  the  evening  papers,  18,353,904, 

132 


WHY  ADVERTISE  IN  THE  NEWSPAPERS  133 

or  a  total  of  28,625,041.  The  cost  of  running  an  advertisement 
in  the  entire  list  would  be  about  $61.74  a  line.  A  national 
advertiser  paid  $6.50  a  line  for  a  list  of  25  representative  city 
dailies  having  a  total  circulation  of  3,500,000  copies. 

In  the  daily  newspapers  the  rates  run  from  6  to  10  cents  a  line 
in  small-town  publications;  and  from  20  to  70  cents  and  even 
$2  a  line,  according  to  classification,  in  the  metropolitan  dailies. 
In  the  country  weeklies  the  rate  runs  as  low  as  6  cents  an  inch. 
One  of  the  big  national  literary  weeklies  sells  its  space  at  $6  a  line. 

If  you  want  to  get  a  good  idea  of  the  low  cost  of  newspaper 
advertising  take  your  pencil  and  figure  out  what  the  expense 
would  be  of  preparing  a  circular,  letter  or  folder,  and  sending  it 
to  the  subscribers  or  readers  of  any  representative  daily  news- 
paper with  which  you  are  acquainted.  In  making  the  estimate 
you  would  have  to  include  such  expenses  as  writing  the  advertise- 
ment, the  cost  of  the  paper,  composition  and  press-work  involved 
in  its  production,  the  folding,  enclosing  and  addressing  of  the 
several  thousand  copies,  the  postage,  and  the  delivery  of  the 
sacks  containing  them  to  the  Post  Office. 

Compare  the  total  of  all  these  items  with  the  cost  of  an 
advertisement  containing  the  same  amount  of  matter  placed  in  a 
newspaper  and  note  how  much  less  is  the  expense  involved  in 
the  use  of  newspaper  space. 

2.  Newspaper  Advertising  Has  the  Advantage  of  Timeliness. — 
Time  is  a  most  important  element  in  advertising.  Because  of  the 
frequency  of  publication  the  advertiser  is  able  to  place  his 
message  before  the  public  in  a  few  hours.  He  does  not  have  to 
furnish  copy  from  six  weeks  to  two  months  in  advance,  as  in  the 
case  of  many  of  the  magazines,  but  can  write  it,  have  it  put  in 
type  and  inserted  in  a  newspaper — all  in  the  same  day.  He  is 
therefore  in  a  position  to  take  advantage  of  any  unexpected 
event  or  situation. 

A  few  years  ago  when  Passaic,  N.  J.,  had  a  $500,000  fire, 
the  enterprising  agent  of  a  patent  fire  extinguisher  happened 
to  be  in  town.  He  saw  in  the  event  an  opportunity  to  center 
public  attention  upon  the  device  and  make  sales.  Finding,  upon 
inquiry,  that  the  local  agent  had  only  a  few  of  the  fire  extin- 
guishers on  hand  he  telegraphed  to  all  the  branch  houses  in  the 


134  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

adjacent  territory  to  send  to  Passaic  at  once  all  they  had  in 
stock.  Then  he  placed  large  display  advertisements  in  all  the 
daily  newspapers  of  the  city,  in  which,  after  telling  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  extinguisher,  he  asserted  that,  had  the  buildings 
that  had  been  destroyed  been  equipped  with  it,  the  flames  could 
have  been  easily  extinguished  and  the  $500,000  loss  prevented. 

Appearing  as  it  did  when  the  entire  business  public  was  excited 
over  the  fire,  the  advertisement  made  a  great  impression  and 
during  the  next  few  days  the  sales  of  the  extinguisher  in  Passaic 
were  the  heaviest  ever  known  in  the  city,  and  gross  after  gross 
were  sold  in  the  surrounding  territory.  Here  was  a  case  where 
enterprise  and  newspaper  advertising,  coupled  with  opportunity, 
made  a  ten-strike  at  small  expense. 

Advertisers  are  more  alert  in  taking  advantage  of  disastrous 
fires  to  sell  their  products  than  they  were  formerly.  When  an 
event  of  this  character  now  occurs  not  only  will  the  manufac- 
turers of  fire  extinguishers  and  apparatus  make  use  of  the  ad- 
vertising columns  of  the  newspapers,  but  also  the  insurance 
companies,  the  builders,  the  dealers  in  fireproof  material  and 
office  furniture,  and  the  real  estate  men  who  have  stores  and 
lofts  to  rent. 

Retail  merchants  appreciate  the  value  of  newspaper  advertising 
in  getting  quick  action  on  special  sales  or  in  meeting  a  mer- 
chandising emergency.  It  is  not  unusual  for  the  sales  manager 
of  a  department  store  to  cancel  suddenly  the  advertisement 
prepared  for  the  following  day  and  substitute  for  it  another  ex- 
ploiting several  lines  of  goods  omitted  from  the  previous  an- 
nouncement, but  which  it  had  been  found  desirable  to  sell 
immediately.  Sometimes  these  changes  in  copy  are  due  to 
the  weather  or  to  the  unexpected  arrival  of  shipments  of  goods 
for  which  there  is  a  heavy  demand;  sometimes  to  the  action  of 
a  competitor  in  making  a  drive  on  a  particular  article. 

National  advertisers  are  quick  to  employ  newspaper  space 
to  head  off  legislation  that  would  harm  their  business;  or  defend 
their  products  from  attacks  made  upon  them  by  physicians  or 
Health  Bureaus,  or  by  rival  manufacturers.  By  promptly  com- 
batting the  charges  made  they  are  often  able  to  neutralize  their 
effect  and  turn  the  tables  on  their  opponents. 


WHY  ADVERTISE  IN  THE  NEWSPAPERS 


135 


raspberries 
red  or 
black 


Think  of  winter  breakfasts  with  raspberry  jam  on  but- 
tered toast!  Think  of  clear,  red  jelly  and  raspberry  tarts! 

Don't  let  raspberry  time  slip  by  without  doing  up  all 
you  can — both  black  and  red. 

There  is  so  much  nutrition  in  preserves  that  they 
should  be  used  to  replace  more  costly  winter  foods. 

When  you  order  your  sugar  see  that  it's  Domino  Granu- 
lated. Domino  comes  in  tight,  dustproof  packages,  ac- 
curately weighed,  packed  and  sealed  by  machine.  Domino 
sugars  are  all  pure  cane  sugars  of  the  highest  quality, 
packed  in  convenient  sturdy  cartons  or  strong  cotton  bags. 

American  Sugar  Refining  Company 

"Sweeten  i'(  with  Domino" 

GmraUted.  Tablet.  Powdered,  Confectioner!.  Brown. 

Gotdeo  Syrup.  KueU»e> 


Cane  Sugars 

SAVE  THE  FRUITCROPJ 

An  advertisement  like  this  appearing  in  the  newspapers  when  berries  and  other 
kinds  of  fruit  are  ripe  is  certain  to  appeal  to  housewives.  The  bag  of  Domino 
granulated  sugar  and  the  heap  of  ripe  raspberries,  suggests  the  desirability  of 
canning  fruit  for  winter  consumption. 


136  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

3.  Newspaper  Advertising  Produces  Quick  Results. — A  daily 
newspaper  is  published  30  or  31  times  a  month,  a  magazine, 
usually  once  a  month.  The  salesman  who  can  talk  to  his 
customers  or  prospects  every  day  in  a  month  has  a  tremendous 
advantage  over  the  salesman  who  can  talk  to  them  but  once 
in  that  time.  Frequency  of  appearance  is,  therefore,  one  of  the 
chief  advantages  of  the  newspaper  as  an  advertising  medium. 
If,  however,  newspapers  were  not  continuously  read  by  a  majority 
of  the  buying  public  frequency  of  issue  would  not  carry  much 
weight  with  advertisers.  It  is  because  they  are  bought 
and  read  by  practically  the  same  people,  day  in  and  day  out, 
that  they  are  of  special  value  to  those  engaged  in  the  sale  of 
merchandise. 

Reiteration  of  statement  is  one  of  the  most  effective  means 
of  influencing  the  human  mind.  Through  the  constant  repetition 
in  advertisements  of  a  fact  or  series  of  facts  about  an  article  it  is 
possible  to  produce  an  indelible  impression  upon  the  mind  of  the 
reader.  He  may  or  may  not  know  that  the  impression  is  being 
made,  but  in  the  end  he  will  be  led,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
to  buy  the  article  if  it  comes  within  the  range  of  his  needs  or 
desires  and  he  has  the  money  to  meet  the  cost. 

Some  of  the  most  successful  and  most  profitable  business 
enterprises  of  our  time  have  been  created  through  newspaper 
advertising.  C.  W.  Post,  of  Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  brought 
out  Postum  Cereal,  a  new  substitute  for  coffee,  in  1895.  Through 
the  liberal  use  of  newspaper  publicity  he  made  a  profit  of  $175,000 
the  first  year.  His  success  was  so  unusual  that  a  dozen  or  more 
cereal  substitutes  for  coffee,  several  being  close  imitations  of 
Postum,  were  placed  on  the  market  at  a  much  lower  price — 
Postum  retailed  for  25  cents  a  package.  In  order  to  meet  the 
competition  of  the  cheaper  brand  Mr.  Post  organized  another 
cereal  company  and  placed  on  the  market  a  coffee  substitute 
called  "Monks'  Brew,"  which  was  sold  at  retail  at  5  cents  a 
package  and  was  advertised  as  "The  equal  of  any  cereal  coffee 
made."  Admitting  that  Postum  was  the  best  coffee  substitute 
on  the  market  Mr.  Post  did  not  misrepresent  the  new  product 
as  every  carton  labelled  "Monks'  Brew,"  it  afterward  turned  out, 
contained  real  Postum. 


WHY  ADVERTISE  IN  THE  NEWSPAPERS 


137 


Sold  by  Reliable  Dealer* 

Phone  Prospect  1800  for  puna 
of  dealer  in  your  neighborhood 


PHESE  tires  are 
JL  built  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  you  can't 
get  the  best  out  of 
your  tires  unless  the 
best  was  putin  them 
in  the  first  place. 


C.  KENYON  COMPANY,  Inc. 

Maktrt  of  Ktnyon  Weathtrproaf 
and  Kmreifn  Waterproof  Coat* 

DEALER'S  SERVICE  DEPT. 

754  Pacific  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


There  is  no  fuss  or  feathers  about  this  Kenyon  newspaper  ad  but  it  does  three 
things  and  does  them  well.  It  visualizes  the  tire  by  means  of  an  outline  picture; 
it  impresses  its  name,  "Kenyon  Cord,"  upon  the  reader's  mind,  and  by  a  single 
brief  sentence  starts  a  train  of  thought  that  ends  in  the  conclusion  that  Kenyon 
tires  must  be  good  tires. 


138  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

This  move  drove  the  rival  manufacturers  out  of  business. 
As  soon  as  this  happened  the  Monk's  Brew  advertising  was 
stopped  and  the  demand  soon  dropped  off  to  such  a  degree  that 
the  wholesalers  sent  it  back  to  Battle  Creek  by  the  carload. 
Post  accepted  the  returned  shipments  and  promptly  mailed 
checks  for  the  full  amount  paid  by  the  jobbers  and  retailers. 
The  manufacturer  poured  the  contents  of  the  packages  into  25- 
cent  Postum  cartons,  which  were  then  shipped  out  to  fill  orders 
for  Postum  that  had  been  received  from  all  over  the  country. 
At  the  end  of  the  second  year  this  enterprising  manufacturer 
found  that  he  had  lost  $46,000. 

The  following  year  Mr.  Post's  profits  were  $384,000;  the  next 
$465,000;  the  next  $930,000,  and  for\  number  of  years  after  that 
they  averaged  over  $1,000,000.  In  1908  he  invested  $1,317,952.- 
55  in  newspaper  advertising;  hi  1909,  $1,245,779.30,  and  in  1910, 
$1,500,000.  At  the  time  of  his  death  a  year  or  two  later  he  was 
spending  more  than  $2,000,000  annually. 

In  an  address  before  the  Sphinx  Club  Mr.  Post  stated  that  his 
sales  increased  in  direct  proportion  to  the  amount  he  put  into 
advertising.  He  laid  down  the  principle  that  "in  conducting 
successful  newspaper  campaigns  it  is  of  the  first  elemental  im- 
portance that  you  have  a  high-grade  article,  containing  all  of  the 
honest  merit  that  human  intelligence  can  put  into  it.  Let  the 
advertiser  know  the  ground-floor  facts  about  his  product,  and 
then  tell  them  steadily  and  persistently,  and  all  the  time  right 
in  the  face  of  all  ignorant  criticism,  however  perverted  it  may  be, 
and  he  will  win  out  in  time  for  the  people  seek  facts  and  ride 
over  biased  and  self-seeking  comment." 

W.  L.  Douglas,  at  one  tune  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  and 
one  of  the  largest  manufacturers  of  advertised  shoes  in  the  world, 
once  paid  this  tribute  to  newspaper  advertising: 

"Newspaper  advertising  has  made  me  what  I  am.  I  have 
tried  all  the  advertising  mediums  there  are  and  the  newspapers 
give  me  far  the  best  results.  A  newspaper  advertisement  strikes 
the  eye  the  moment  the  sheet  is  opened.  The  same  advertise- 
ment would  be  hidden  among  the  many  pages  of  a  magazine  until 
the  reader  found  his  way  to  it,  if  he  ever  did.  Every  man  reads 
a  newspaper  but  every  man  does  not  read  the  magazines.  There 


WHY  ADVERTISE  IN  THE  NEWSPAPERS 


139 


4  never-ending  procession  of  ships 


is  passing  along  this  route,  bringing  fresh,  fra- 
grant Lipton's  Tea  to  America.  In  the  great 
Lipton  Plantations  of  Ceylon  and  India,  over 
8,000  miles  awayj  the  picking,  curing  and 
shipping  of 


is  always  going  on.   That  is  why  you  always  get  fresh  tea 

when  you  buy  Lipton's.    Freshness  is  vitally  essential  to 

the  satisfying  flavor  and  fragrance  of  tea.  Tell  your  grocer 

you  want  Lipton's  Tea  because  you  know  it  will  have  this 

freshness. 

Look  for  the  signature  of  Sir  Thomas  J.  Lipton  on  every 

package  of  tea  you  buy 


TEA  COFFEE**  COCOA  PiMtTfuCtruoH 

It  insures  you  the  utmost  in  tea  quality  and  is  a  guarantee 
that  you  will  enjoy  tea  drinking  at  its  best. 

Ask  your  grocer for  Lilian's  blends  of  Ceylon  and  India 
Teas  —  Black,   Green  or  Mixed,  also  Orange  Petot 

THOMAS  J.  LIPTON,  Inc. 

Hobokeo  San  Francisco  Chicago          Toronto  London 


The  never  ending  procession  of  ships  carrying  Lipton's  tea  from  Ceylon  to 
New  York,  as  shown  in  the  illustration,  is,  to  the  reader,  convincing  proof  of  its 
popularity.  The  reproduction  of  Lipton's  signature,  and  the  package  in  the 
lower  left-hand  corner  are  helps  to  identification.  Well  adapted  to  newspaper 


140  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

is  no  place  where  the  newspapers  are  not  read  with  eager  interest. 
That  is  why  I  advertise  exclusively  in  the  daily  newspapers." 

Mr.  Douglas  has  invested  from  $200,000  to  $300,000  a  year  in 
this  kind  of  publicity.  It  would  have  been  utterly  impossible 
for  Mr.  Post  or  Mr.  Douglas  to  have  achieved  the  great  financial 
success  they  did  without  advertising — they  say  newspaper 
advertising. 

A  large  national  advertiser  in  starting  out  to  introduce  a  new 
product  began  by  spending  $300  a  month  in  the  local  newspapers 
of  a  restricted  territory.  Disregarding  the  cost  of  advertising 
he  made  a  profit  of  $50,  the  first  month;  $75  the  second;  $100, 
the  third  and  so  on  up  to  the  twelfth  when  the  profit  was  large 
enough  to  cover  the  cost  of  advertising  for  the  month.  At  the 
end  of  18  months  the  profit  equaled  the  cost  of  the  advertis- 
ing for  the  entire  period,  and  beginning  with  the  nineteenth 
month  he  was  doing  a  large  volume  of  business  with  a  fair  profit. 
He  continued  this  same  policy  for  17  months  in  several  other 
localities,  the  results  of  the  three  years'  use  of  local  mediums 
being  three  new  factories  with  a  fourth  under  construction  to  meet 
the  demand  that  had  been  created. 

The  above  are  only  three  out  of  hundreds  of  cases  that  might 
be  cited  to  show  the  substantial  results  that  can  be  achieved  in  a 
comparatively  short  time  through  the  employment  of  newspaper 
advertising. 

Herbert  Kaufman  says:  "Newspaper  advertising  is  to  business 
what  hands  are  to  a  clock.  It  is  a  direct  and  certain  means  of 
letting  the  public  know  what  you  are  doing.  A  dealer  who  does 
not  advertise  is  like  a  clock  that  has  no  hands." 

4.  Newspaper  Advertising  Increases  Profits  by  Speeding  Up  the 
Turn-over  oj  Stock. — It  is  a  well-known  merchandising  principle 
that  the  more  frequent  the  turn-over  of  goods  the  greater  will  be 
the  profit,  as  overhead  expenses  remain  practically  the  same. 
Hence  the  more  goods  sold  the  larger  the  profit.  Frequency  of 
advertising,  provided,  of  course,  it  is  of  the  right  kind,  promotes 
frequency  of  turn-over.  It  is  this  constant  turn-over  of  capital 
that  makes  large  profits  possible  upon  a  comparatively  small 
initial  investment.  Volume  and  reasonable  profits  should  be  the 


WHY  ADVERTISE  IN  THE  NEWSPAPERS  141 

aim  of  both  manufacturer  and  retailer.     Newspaper  advertising 
promotes  both. 

5.  What    You  Get    When    You  Purchase   Newspaper   Space. 
When  you  place  an  advertisement  in  a  newspaper  you  buy  much 
more  than  the  white  space  it  occupies.     Along  with  it  goes  the 
prestige  and  influence  which  the  paper  has  been  building  up  for 
many  years.     Victor  Lawson  spent  $25,000,000  in  developing  the 
Chicago  Daily  News.     Four  hundred  thousand  families  read  the 
paper  daily  because  of  its  dependability  and  their  confidence  in  it. 
Every  advertiser  in  its  columns  buys  the  good  will  that  has  been 
created  by  many  years  of  square  dealing  and  efficient  public 
service — but  all  he  pays  for  is  space. 

It  took  the  great  war  to  demonstrate  to  the  Government, 
bankers  and  business  men  of  the  country,  the  dominance  and 
force  of  newspaper  advertising.  One  of  the  most  impressive 
illustrations  showing  what  can  be  done  through  newspaper  ad- 
vertising was  the  Chicago  Red  Cross  Membership  Campaign. 
By  using  42  full-page  advertisements  in  the  local  dailies  for  four 
weeks  the  enrollment  was  increased  from  17,000  to  416,000,  at  a 
total  cost  of  7%  cents  a  member.  The  best  previous  cost  record 
made  without  advertising  was  16  cents  per  member. 

6.  Another  Advantage  oj  Newspaper  Advertising  Is  Its  Flexibility. 
You  can  localize  your  advertising  by  adapting  it  to  the  varying 
social,  financial,  business  and  climatic  conditions  of  the  territory 
you  wish  to  cover.     You  can  use  one  kind  of  copy  in  Florida  and 
Louisiana,  another  kind  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  and  still  another 
in  Oregon  and  Washington,  in  each  instance  the  text  matter 
being  adapted  to  the  special  needs  and  customs  of  the  people  of 
those  sections  of  the  country. 

A  newspaper  advertising  campaign  can  be  confined  to  one 
state  or  group  of  states,  or  it  can  cover  the  country  like  a  blanket. 
It  can  be  canceled  on  a  few  days'  notice  or  it  can  be  extended  to 
territory  that  was  not  included  in  the  original  plan.  The  ad- 
vertisements used  need  not  be  of  uniform  size.  You  can  run  a 
page  or  double  truck  on  Sunday,  a  quarter  page  Wednesday, 
and  a  column  or  half  a  column  on  Friday,  without  the  slightest 
trouble.  When  the  season  for  your  product  is  on,  if  you  are  a 
manufacturer,  you  can  employ  as  much  space  as  you  may  need 


142  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

to  properly  influence  trade.  In  the  dull  season  you  are  under  no 
obligation  to  advertise  in  the  newspaper  unless  you  want  to. 

7.  One  More  Point  to  Be  Considered  in  Newspaper  Advertising 
Is  the  Promptness  with  Which  Newspaper  Readers  Respond  to  Ad- 
vertising Appeals. — They  have  been  taught  by  experience  to  act 
at  once,  notably  in  responding  to  classified  and  retail  advertising. 
They  know  that  unless  they  immediately  visit  the  store  where  a 
special  sale  is  taking  place  their  chances  for  getting  one  of  the 
articles  advertised  are  few.  Delay  mean  loss  of  opportunity. 
Prompt  action  prevents  disappointment.  National  advertisers 
say  that  readers  of  newspapers  are  more  quickly  responsive  to 
their  advertisements  than  the  readers  of  magazines.  It  is  this 
habit  of  promptness  in  answering  advertisements  that  appeals  to 
merchants.  They  can  tell  within  24  or  48  hours  after  a  special 
sale  advertisement  has  been  printed  just  what  results  have  been 
achieved  through  that  particular  piece  of  copy. 

How  to  Know  What  Newspaper  to  Use. — The  retail  merchant 
has  little  difficulty  in  selecting  the  proper  daily  or  weekly  papers 
for  his  advertising.  He  lives  right  where  they  are  published. 
He  reads  one  or  more  of  them  every  day  if  he  is  a  live  and  intelli- 
gent merchant.  He  hears  them  discussed  by  customers  in  the 
store,  and  by  his  friends  and  neighbors.  He  knows  which  ones 
print  the  most  reliable  news  and  are  the  most  helpful  to  the 
community.  Therefore  when  he  advertises  he  is  measurably 
certain  to  pick  those  that  will  do  his  business  the  most  good. 

The  national  distributor  hi  making  up  the  list  of  newspapers 
in  which  his  advertising  is  to  appear  naturally  does  not  have 
first-hand  knowledge  of  the  several  city  dailies  possessed  by  the 
local  merchants.  He  can  find  in  the  newspaper  directories  facts 
that  will  help  him  in  his  selection,  but  aside  from  the  circulation 
figures,  political  complexion,  frequency  of  publication  and  the 
names  of  the  owners,  there  is  little  information  that  will  assist 
him  in  determining  their  standing  in  the  community  or  their 
value  as  advertising  mediums. 

The  basic  facts  that  are  most  helpful  to  the  national  advertiser 
in  determining  the  real  advertising  worth  of  a  newspaper  do  not 
appear  in  directories.  They  can  only  be  found  in  the  possession 
of  the  large  advertising  agencies  and  big  national  advertisers 


143 

who  have  assembled  them  for  their  use  as  the  result  of  thorough 
and  costly  investigations  made  by  members  of  their  own  staffs. 
What  advertisers  want  to  know  is  embodied  in  the  answers  to 
these  questions:  What  kind  of  people  comprise  the  bulk  of  the 
paper's  readers?  Is  it  an  alert  and  progressive  publication, 
taking  the  lead  in  civic  affairs  and  making  its  influence  felt  in 
all  directions,  or  does  it  drift  along  without  definite  aims  or 
purposes?  Is  it  a  sensational  or  a  conservative  newspaper? 
Does  it  print  objectionable  advertising?  Are  its  rates  reasonable 
and  are  they  the  same  to  all  people?  Does  it  give  the  advertiser 
a  square  deal?  Is  the  paper  well  printed  and  edited?  Does 
it  have  backbone  in  dealing  with  public  questions?  Are  its 
classified  columns  fat  or  lean?  Does  it  have  a  distinct  moral 
tone? 

When  these  questions  have  been  satisfactorily  answered  the 
advertiser  can  make  his  selection  with  intelligence  and  good 
judgment. 

Questions 

1.  How  does  the  cost  of  newspaper  advertising  compare  with  that  of 
other  mediums? 

2.  What  would  be  the  expense  of  running  a  10-line  advertisement  in  all 
the  daily  newspapers  of  the  country? 

3.  Give  six  advantages  of  newspapers  as  an  advertising  medium. 

4.  Tell  the  story  of  Postum. 

6.  What  effect  does  newspaper  advertising  have  upon  turn-over? 

6.  In  buying  space  what  do  you  get  besides  the  white  paper? 

7.  Are  the  readers  of  newspapers  more  quickly  responsive  to  advertise- 
ments than  magazine  readers,  and  if  so,  why? 

8.  How  can  an  advertiser  tell  what  newspapers  to  use  in  a  campaign? 

9.  What  are  some  of  the  points  that  should  be  considered  in  their  selec- 
tion? 


CHAPTER  XII 
MAGAZINES  AS  ADVERTISING  MEDIUMS 

All  magazines  may  be  grouped  under  three  heads — literary, 
class  and  business.  Usually  when  we  speak  of  magazines  in 
advertising  circles  the  literary  or  class  publications  are  meant. 
Because  of  their  country-wide  distribution  magazines  stand  in 
high  favor  among  national  advertisers.  Retail  merchants  do 
not  use  them  in  their  campaigns  unless,  like  B.  Altman  &  Com- 
pany, Tiffany  and  the  Gorham  Company,  of  New  York,  and 
Marshall  Field  &  Company,  of  Chicago,  they  have  mail  order 
departments.  Owing  to  the  nature  of  their  business  they  aim 
to  concentrate  their  advertising  upon  the  territory  from  which 
they  can  reasonably  expect  to  draw  customers.  For  their  pur- 
pose the  local  daily  or  weekly  newspaper  is  an  ideal  medium. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  national  advertiser — generally  a 
manufacturer  or  jobber — who  sells  his  product  all  over  the 
country  wherever  he  can  find  a  market,  uses  the  magazines  be- 
cause of  their  wide  distribution.  The  publishers  of  these  period- 
icals do  not  contend  that  theirs  is  the  best  or  the  only  advertising 
medium  that  should  be  used  in  a  general  advertising  campaign. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  they  recognize  the  value  of  newspapers  and 
are  themselves  liberal  advertisers  in  them.  They  have  found 
by  experience  that  if  they  want  to  arouse  public  interest  in  a 
striking  feature  article,  or  in  an  unusual  story  appearing  in  their 
magazines  they  must  use  newspaper  space.  The  Literary 
Digest,  the  Pictorial  Review,  the  Saturday  Evening  Post  and 
Collier's,  employ  full  pages  in  the  highest  priced  dailies  in  the 
country  for  this  purpose.  Whenever  the  time  element  is  an 
important  factor  the  newspaper  is  undoubtedly  superior  to 
other  mediums. 

The  Place  of  the  Magazine. — Before  enumerating  the  argu- 
ments in  behalf  of  the  magazine  as  an  advertising  medium  let 

144 


MAGAZINES  AS  ADVERTISING  MEDIUMS  145 

us  consider  the  position  it  occupies  in  the  reading  world.  Maga- 
zines are  not  a  necessity  in  the  same  sense  as  are  newspapers. 
Their  function  is  different.  Business  men  depend  upon  news- 
papers for  market  reports  and  other  information  which  is  of 
vital  importance  to  them  in  the  conduct  of  their  affairs.  From 
this  viewpoint  it  would  not  make  much  difference  to  them  if  no 
magazines  were  published.  And  yet  magazines  are  generally 
regarded  as  indispensable  to  modern  civilization.  They  are  the 
medium  through  which  its  highest  culture  finds  expression. 
In  them  may  be  found  much  of  the  choicest  literature  of  our 
time,  the  results  of  scientific  research,  articles  on  art,  music, 
the  drama,  travel,  health  and  other  topics  that  appeal  to  men 
and  women  of  education  and  refinement. 

The  magazines  discuss  many  subjects  with  a  thoroughness  that 
is  not  possible  in  the  newspapers  because  of  space  limitations 
and  the  speed  with  which  they  must  be  produced.  They  furnish 
thousands  of  people  with  the  only  means  they  have  of  intellectual 
improvement.  Some  are  devoted  to  the  home,  some  to  women 
and  some  to  the  children.  Others  to  health,  religion,  education, 
out-door  sports  and  agriculture.  They  are  read  during  leisure 
hours  when  the  mind  is  not  absorbed  with  business  affairs  or  by 
social  or  household  duties.  Their  monthly  or  weekly  arrival  is 
looked  forward  to  with  pleasurable  anticipation  by  all  members 
of  the  family.  For  thirty  days  they  continue  a  live  attraction 
of  the  center  table,  and  when  the  new  issues  come  they  are  put 
aside  for  future  reference,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  are  bound 
in  volume  form  and  placed  on  the  shelves  of  the  library. 

Advantages  of  Magazine  Advertising. — We  are  now  hi  a  posi- 
tion to  understand  wherein  the  value  of  the  magazine  as  an 
advertising  medium  lies.  Among  its  advantages  are  the  following : 

1.  It  Is  Read  in  the  Home  and  Forms  a  Part  of  Its  IntettectualLife. 
It  has  the  confidence  of  the  members  of  the  family — a  confi- 
dence that  has  been  born  of  long  familiarity  with  its  ideals  and 
purposes  as  reflected  in  its  pages.  The  publisher  regards  himself 
as  a  trustee  for  the  home  into  which  his  magazine  enters  and  there- 
fore keeps  out  of  it  all  advertisements  that  might  deceive  or  harm 
the  members  of  the  family.  That  is  the  reason  why  for  many 

years  before  the  prohibition  law  went  into  effect  the  pages  of  the 
10 


146  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

standard  magazines  were  free  from  beer,  whiskey,  patent 
medicine  and  other  objectionable  advertisements.  In  one  year 
Everybody's  rejected  $200,000  worth  of  this  kind  of  advertising. 

2.  Every  Advertisement  Appearing  in  Its  Columns  Has  Behind 
It  the  Implied,  if  Not  Expressed,  Personal  Endorsement  of  the 
Publisher. — The  reader  does  not  question  for  a  moment  the 
truth  of  the  statements.     He  believes  them  because  of  his  faith 
in  the  responsibility  and  integrity  of  the  sponsors  of  the  magazine. 
The  advantage  which  this  reader  confidence  gives  the  national 
distributor  of  merchandise,  whose  advertising  is  admitted  to  its 
columns,  is  incalculable.     He  can  bank  upon  the  results  that 
will  follow  with  a  greater  degree  of  certainty  than  is  possible  when 
some  of  the  other  mediums  are  employed.     Magazine  publishers 
have  claimed,  and  apparently  not  without  reason,  that  reader 
response  is  far  greater  in  proportion  to  circulation  than  in  the 
case  of  the  newspapers. 

3.  It  Furnishes  a   Stable  Market. — Herbert  S.  Houston,  of 
Doubleday,  Page  &  Company,  publishers  of  the  World's  Work, 
maintains  that  the  magazine  is  most  effective  in  creating  a  broad 
and  enduring  market  for  staple  articles  having  wide  distribution, 
for  example,   like   Walter   Baker's   Chocolate,    Royal   Baking 
Powder  or  Regal  Shoes.     Such  a  market  depends  upon  the  home 
for  its  support  and  the  way  to  reach  the  home,  he  asserts,  is 
through  the  literary  and  other  magazines  that  cover  the  country 
thoroughly  many  times  a  year. 

4.  It  Protects  Readers  Against  Loss  Through  Fraudulent  Ad- 
vertising.— The  readers  of  a  magazine  take  it  for  granted  that  the 
publisher  guarantees  the  responsibility  of  his  advertisers,  and 
hence,  when  they  find  they  have  been  deceived,  do  not  hesitate 
to  call  upon  him  to  make  good  any  loss  they  have  sustained.     A 
man  in  Florida  who  purchased  some  fancy  pigeons  that  had  been 
advertised  in  a  prominent  monthly  wrote  the  publisher  that  they 
were  not  as  represented.     The  latter  requested  him  to  forward 
the  birds  to  New  York  by  express  where  he  would  have  a  pigeon 
fancier  decide  whether  they  came  up  to  the  description  given  by 
the  seller  in  his  advertisement.     The  expert  reported  that  the 
pigeons  were  of  the  ordinary  barn-yard  variety  and  not  Belgian 


MAGAZINES  AS  ADVERTISING  MEDIUMS  147 


Some  national  advertisers  depend  upon  illustrations  to  put  their  message  across. 
In  this  William  Rogers  ad  the  picture  conveys  the  idea  of  quality,  the  few  lines 
of  type  underneath  being  supplementary. 


148 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


JW, 

€.*> 

*-x 

SHRE'DDl'MBlH 


Vjfi 

SHREDDED 
Bumbles 


K 


rumbles 

the  real  vim  an 


"DVERY  bit  of  the  perfect  nutrition  nature 
-L-'  puts  in  the  whol,e  wheat  grain  is  in 
Krumbles.  That  is  why  eminent  food  author- 
ities say  one  could  live  indefinitely  on  Krum- 
bles and  milk.  Krumbles  gives  you  the  valuable 
mineral  salts  and  other  elements  that  benefit 
muscles  and  nerves— build  up  vitality  and 
•provide  pep. 

Krumbles  is  made  in  the  same  big,  modern 
kitchens  as  Kellogg's  Toasted  Corn  Flakes, 
Kellogg's  Krumbled  Bran,  Kellogg's  Drinket, 
etc,  and  comes  to  you  from  your  grocer  in  our 
flavor-hokUng"waxtite"pack- 
age,  with  this  signature-  " 

Here,  again,  we  see  in  this  Kellogg  ad  a  happy  combination  of  illustration 
and  text.  The  picture  of  the  jolly-faced,  wholesome-looking  Boy  Scout  at  the 
top,  and  the  package  and  prepared  dish  of  berries  at  the  right,  are  full  of  sugges- 
tions to  parents. 


MAGAZINES  AS  ADVERTISING  MEDIUMS  149 

Homers,  as  claimed.  Thereupon  the  publisher  forwarded  to  the 
Florida  buyer  a  check  covering  the  price  he  had  paid  for  them 
and  sent  the  birds  back  to  the  advertiser  whom  he  compelled 
to  repay  the  money. 

There  are  few  representative  magazines  in  America  that  do  not 
protect  their  readers  from  loss  in  a  similar  manner.  It  is  a 
tribute  to  the  watchfulness  of  the  publishers  that  so  few  mis- 
leading or  deceptive  advertisements  find  their  way  into  their 
periodicals. 

5.  Advertisements  Appear  in  Good  Company. — A  magazine 
advertiser  is  morally  certain  that  his  advertisement  will  be  in 
good  company  when  it  appears.  If  he  is  selling  the  bonds  of  an 
industrial  corporation  of  established  reputation  he  knows  that 
it  will  not  be  elbowed  by  the  alluring  announcements  of  wild-cat 
oil  or  mining  companies.  In  business,  as  well  as  in  society,  we 
like  to  be  associated  with  honest  and  respectable  people.  We 
know  that  if  we  are  frequently  seen  in  the  company  of  men  and 
women  who  have  an  unsavory  reputation,  we  will  soon  be  classed 
with  them.  In  the  same  way  we  want  our  advertisements  to 
have  the  right  kind  of  neighbors  when  they  appear  in  print  in 
order  that  they  may  share  in  the  advantages  which  such 
association  brings. 

Physical  Advantages  of  Magazine  Advertising. — Because 
magazines  are  printed  on  a  fine  quality  of  paper,  on  slow-running 
presses,  and  under  conditions  that  allow  more  time  for  make- 
ready  and  greater  care  in  printing,  they  offer  advertisers  better 
typographical  effects  and  art  values  than  the  newspapers. 
Finer  screens  can  be  used  in  making  the  halftone  plates  for  the 
illustrations,  thus  insuring  clearer  and  more  attractive  pictures. 
Within  reasonable  limitations  the  better  the  typographical  and 
artistic  appearance  of  an  advertisement  the  more  likely  its 
chances  are  of  being  seen  and  read. 

The  shape  and  size  of  a  magazine  page  contributes  to  the  effect- 
iveness of  the  advertisement  printed  upon  it.  The  fact  that  full 
pages  are  used  by  a  majority  of  national  advertisers  gives  to  each 
one  an  equal  chance  to  interest  the  reader.  There  is  no  division 
of  attention.  When  you  riffle  over  the  pages  every  advertisement 
has  an  opportunity,  however  slight  it  may  be,  of  catching  and 


150  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

holding  your  eye  long  enough  to  awaken  a  desire  to  read  it.  It 
is  the  absence  of  counter-attractions  that  gives  an  added  strength 
to  magazine  advertisements. 

Magazines  Maintain  Service  Departments. — Many  of  the  more 
important  magazines  have  established  service  departments  for 
the  assistance  of  advertisers  in  the  preparation  of  their  copy  and 
to  supply  valuable  merchandising  and  marketing  information. 
While  most  of  the  national  advertising  is  prepared  and  placed 
by  advertising  agents,  many  new  advertisers  who  have  not  reached 
the  point  where  they  consider  it  advisable  to  turn  over  their 
publicity  campaigns  to  agents,  are  glad  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
advice  and  assistance  given  by  the  service  departments  of  the 
magazines.  Sometimes  a  charge  is  made,  but  usually  the  service 
is  furnished  free  to  those  who  have  contracted  for  space.  But 
whether  or  not  a  charge  is  made  for  writing  the  copy,  the 
expense  of  all  art  work,  halftones  or  other  cuts,  is  borne  by  the 
advertiser. 

How  Magazines  Help  the  Dealer. — The  national  distributor 
who  wants  to  get  the  most  out  of  his  advertising  should  not  be 
content  to  sit  back  and  wait  for  results.  He  should  see  that  the 
retailers  who  handle  his  goods  know  about  his  campaign  and  the 
names  of  the  magazines  he  is  using.  This  information  can  be 
supplied  to  them  through  the  manufacturer's  salesmen  who  call 
upon  the  merchants.  They  should  carry  with  them  copies  of  the 
advertisements  that  are  to  appear  during  the  campaign  and 
explain  how  they  will  increase  sales.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  furnish 
copies  of  one  or  more  of  the  magazines  containing  the  advertise- 
ments to  the  dealers  so  they  can  place  them  in  the  show  windows 
in  which  the  goods  are  displayed.  People  passing  by  will  see 
them  and  be  duly  impressed  by  the  fact  that  the  articles  thus 
advertised  in  publications  having  a  national  reputation,  are  on 
sale  in  the  store.  They  will  conclude,  and  rightly  too,  that  the 
goods  must  possess  merit  or  the  manufacturer  would  not  spend 
a  large  amount  of  money  in  advertising  them.  Moreover  they 
take  pride  in  the  possession  and  use  of  articles  that  have  been 
made  popular  through  advertising. 

The  merchant  also  takes  pride  in  selling  them.  To  have  on 
his  shelves  trade-marked  products  that  are  being  exploited  in 


MAGAZINES  AS  ADVERTISING  MEDIUMS  151 

high-class  magazines  that  circulate  among  his  best  customers 
gives  to  his  store  a  prominence  in  the  community  it  would  not 
have  if  he  dealt  only  in  commonplace  brands. 

The  Life  of  a  Magazine  Advertisement. — Thirty  days  is  the 
limit  of  the  active  life  of  a  magazine  just  as  a  day  is  the  limit 
of  a  daily  newspaper.  The  magazine  advertisement,  however, 
continues  to  pull  long  after  the  month  of  publication  has  gone 
by.  The  Michigan  Stove  Company  inserted  a  224-line  advertise- 
ment three  times  in  a  select  list  of  magazines  and  weeklies  having 
a  national  circulation.  One  of  its  features  was  a  coupon  offering 
advice  about  stoves  to  any  person  returning  it  to  the  company's 
office.  Six  years  after  the  advertisement  had  appeared — the 
offer  had  not  been  repeated  in  the  meantime — the  coupons  were 
still  coming  in,  some  from  remote  districts  of  Europe  and  other 
foreign  countries  The  explanation,  of  course,  is  that  magazines 
are  not  thrown  away,  like  newspapers,  but  in  many  instances 
are  kept  for  a  long  time  in  bound  or  unbound  form.  Some- 
times old  copies  are  sent  to  institutions  where  they  are  read 
and  re-read  until  worn  out.  A  magazine  frequently  has  half 
a  dozen  sets  of  readers,  the  copies  being  sent  from  one  home 
to  another  among  the  relatives  and  friends  of  the  original  owner. 
While  formerly  it  was  the  custom  in  binding  copies  into  volumes 
to  discard  the  advertising  sections,  in  these  days,  owing  to  the 
increased  size  of  the  magazine  page  and  the  custom  of  running 
reading  matter  and  small  advertisements  together,  it  is  impossible 
to  do  so.  It  follows,  therefore,  under  this  arrangement,  that  the 
advertisements  are  preserved  indefinitely,  and,  as  often  as  the 
volume  is  opened  are  ready  to  deliver  their  message  to  the  reader. 

Things  to  Be  Considered  in  Magazine  Circulations. — While 
quantity  of  circulation  is  regarded  as  a  most  important  factor 
in  newspaper  advertising,  in  magazine  advertising  it  is  geo- 
graphical distribution.  The  national  advertiser  wants  to  know 
whether  it  covers  the  entire  country  or  only  a  section  of  it. 
When  he  buys  magazine  space  he  prefers  that  it  shall  be  in  a 
periodical  that  covers  the  territory  where  he  has  the  best  dis- 
tribution of  his  product. 

Some  mail  campaigns  will  undoubtedly  pay  best  in  the  far 
West  and  in  the  Southwest  where  facilities  for  buying  the  article 


152  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

of  local  dealers  are  limited.  Several  of  the  magazines  having 
large  circulations  now  furnish  the  advertiser  statements  showing 
their  geographical  distribution  by  States.  From  them  he  can 
tell  whether  the  publications  reach  the  people  in  the  territory 
in  which  he  seeks  to  build  up  sales. 

Half  the  population  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  lies 
east  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of  Ohio,  but  the  purchasing 
power  of  the  West  undoubtedly  warrants  a  larger  advertising 
investment,  according  to  population,  than  the  East.  There  is 
also  less  competition  to  be  encountered. 

Another  important  point  to  be  considered  about  a  magazine's 
circulation  is  the  manner  in  which  it  was  secured.  Was  it  the 
result  of  premium  or  clubbing  offers,  of  prize  contests,  or  of  sub- 
scription drives?  or  was  it  the  result  of  volunteer  subscriptions? 
Forced  circulations  are  not  as  highly  regarded  by  advertisers 
as  those  that  have  had  a  natural  growth.  People  who  take  a 
magazine  to  get  a  premium  or  to  help  someone  win  a  prize  usually 
care  little  about  the  publication  itself. 

The  most  profitable  reader  for  the  advertiser  is  the  one  who 
buys  or  subscribes  for  a  publication  because  it  appeals  to  him 
and  he  wants  it.  He  not  only  desires  to  read  it,  but  feels  under 
an  obligation  to  do  so.  The  man  to  whom  a  magazine  is  sent 
free  is  influenced  by  neither  of  these  sentiments. 

Magazine  circulations  do  not  fluctuate  like  those  of  newspapers. 
Severe  rain  or  snow  storms  do  not  lessen  the  demand  for  them. 
In  the  big  cities  where  newspaper  circulations  depend  largely 
upon  street  sales  it  is  not  uncommon  for  the  sales  to  fall  off  from 
25  to  40  per  cent,  because  of  a  spell  of  bad  weather.  The  mag- 
azines, with  possibly  one  or  two  exceptions,  are  not  sold  by 
newsboys.  Stand  sales  keep  up  in  spite  of  weather  conditions 
because  the  stands  having  the  largest  sales  are  located  at  rail- 
way stations,  near  post  offices,  or  other  places  where  traffic  is 
heaviest. 

Reliable  figures  regarding  magazine  circulations  may  be 
obtained  from  the  Publishers'  Periodical  Association,  the  Audit 
Bureau  of  Circulations,  and  from  N.  W.  Ayer  &  Son's  News- 
paper Directory. 


MAGAZINES  AS  ADVERTISING  MEDIUMS 


153 


^|    Increasingly  Appreciated 


The  exquisite  beauty  of  tone 
and  craftsmanhke  finish  of  The 
Cheney  is  becoming  known  to 
an  ever  enlarging  group  of  dis- 
criminating purchasers. 

There  is  romantic  interest  as  well  as 
unique  acoustic  superiority  m  the 
fact  that  The  Cheney  embodies  the 
principles  of  the  pipe  organ  and  the 
violin.  "THE  LONGER  You  PLAY  IT, 
THE  SWEETER  IT  GROWS." 

The  increasing  appreciation  of  The 
Cheney  manifests  itself  in  an  enlarg- 
ing volume  of  sales,  most  gratityuig 
to  dealers. 


O/ie 


In  the  Cheney  Talking  Machine  ad  the  sole  purpose  of  the  illustration  is  to 
create  atmosphere.  It  gives  the  impression  that  the  Cheney  appeals  to  people 
of  refinement.  This  impression  is  further  strengthened  by  the  reading  matter. 


154 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


GrinneU 

Gloves 

"Best  for  every  purpose" 


GrinneU  "Limp-Kuff"  'Driving  gloves 

An  ideal  motoring  glove;  with  the  snap  of  real  style;  light-weight;  smooth- 
fitting;  soft,  easy,  comfortable;  the  flexible,  limp-cuff  keeps  out  wind,  dust,  rain 
or  snow,  and  crumples  down  naturally  on  wrist.  Snug  strap  fastener  at 
wrist  completes  its  handsomeness. 

Ask  your  dealer  for  the  GrinneU  Limp-Kuffand  other  GrinneU  gloves.  Whatever 
kind  of  glove  you  want,  for  driving,  work,  dress  or  play — for  men,  women  or 
children,  you'll  find  it  among  GrinneU  styles.  The  GrinneU  trade-mark  is  a  sixty- 
four-years-old  guarantee  of  quality.  Write  us  for  the  1920  GrinneU  Giove  Book. 

&5*KA^Si        MORRISON  RICKER  MFG.  COMPANY        "TrS-Jfc"- 


A  capital  specimen  of  effective  glove  advertising.  Prominence  is  given,  and 
very  properly,  too,  to  the  maker's  name;  the  character  of  the  glove  is  shown  with 
photographic  accuracy  and  its  use  is  indicated  by  the  automobile  in  the  picture 
above  it. 


MAGAZINES  AS  ADVERTISING  MEDIUMS  155 

Questions 

1.  Under  what  three  heads  are  magazines  grouped? 

2.  What  kind  of  advertisers  employ  them  in  their  campaigns? 

3.  What  special  services  do  magazines  render  the  public? 

4.  Give  the  arguments  hi  behalf  of  the  use  of  magazines  in  advertising 
campaigns. 

5.  How  do  the  magazine  publishers  protect  their  readers  against  loss  from 
fraudulent  advertisers?     Give  an  illustration. 

6.  Why  are  most  magazine  advertisements  believable? 

7.  What  can  you  say  of  the  typographical  and  art  value  of  magazine 
advertisements  ? 

8.  In  what  practical  way  do  magazine  publishers  help  their  advertisers? 

9.  How  do  magazine  advertisements  help  the  retailer? 

10.  What  is  the  length  of  life  of  a  magazine  advertisement? 

11.  What  things  are  to  be  considered  in  magazine  circulations?    Are 
magazine  circulations  more  stable  than  those  of  newspapers?     Why? 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  ADVERTISING  VALUE  OF  TRADE  AND  CLASS 

PAPERS 

"The  trade  paper  binds  everybody  in  the  business  into  a  fraternity 
which  spells  length  of  days  because  it  serves,  and  its  service  is  based  upon 
specific  knowledge." — ELBERT  HUBBARD. 

Newspapers  fill  so  large  a  place  in  the  stirring,  aggressive  life 
of  to-day  that  we  may  overlook  the  existence  of  an  exceedingly 
important  though  not  generally  circulated  group  of  publications 
known  as  technical  trade  and  class  journals.  The  great  public 
knows  little  of  them  because  they  are  seldom  found  on  the  news- 
stands, are  not  sold  on  passenger  trains,  and  are  only  occasionally 
encountered  in  libraries  except  in  the  larger  cities.  And  yet 
these  same  journals  occupy  an  exceedingly  important  place  in  the 
social,  religious,  professional  and  business  life  of  the  age  in 
which  we  live.  Millions  of  dollars  of  capital  are  employed  in  their 
production.  Their  annual  revenue  from  advertising  is  estimated 
at  from  $46,000,000  to  $50,000,000. 

The  list  of  these  publications  which  cover  many  activities  is  a 
long  one  and  includes  periodicals  devoted  to  the  iron,  steel  and 
coal  industries;  to  the  manufacture  of  textiles,  shoes  and  clothing; 
to  education,  religion  and  sociology;  to  science,  commerce  and 
banking.  There  are  few,  if  any,  businesses  that  are  not  rep- 
resented by  one  or  more  of  them. 

Selective  Character  of  Circulations. — The  chief  argument  in 
behalf  of  business  papers  as  advertising  mediums  is  based  upon 
the  selective  character  of  their  circulations.  They  assemble  in 
groups  those  who  are  engaged  in  specific  occupations.  "The 
trade  and  technical  journals  of  the  country  are  like  magnets 
picking  iron  filings  out  of  the  dust,"  says  II .  R.  Shuman,  of 
Chicago.  The  public  to  which  the  national  advertiser  desires 
to  appeal  is  selected  for  him  automatically  from  the  millions  who 

156 


ADVERTISING  VALUE  OF  TRADE  AND  CLASS  PAPERS    157 

have  no  interest  in  his  product.  Their  readers  are  brought  to- 
gether at  stated  intervals  to  consider  important  problems  relating 
to  the  business  they  represent.  They  are  told  how  to  do  things 
quicker,  better  and  cheaper.  They  are  supplied  with  informa- 
tion of  vital  value  concerning  new  and  improved  manufacturing 
methods  and  processes;  concerning  markets  and  the  best  way 
to  reach  them ;  concerning  new  products,  new  businesses  and  new 
opportunities  for  increasing  sales. 

These  publications  give  you  an  opportunity  to  present  your 
business  story  to  the  selected  groups  of  readers  they  have  as- 
sembled. You  can  talk  to  them  under  ideal  conditions  just  as 
you  would  if  they  were  gathered  together  in  a  big  field  or  audi- 
torium. The  advantage  which  such  a  privilege  gives  is 
incalculable  as  most  of  their  readers  are  either  themselves  buyers 
of  merchandise  or  are  in  close  contact  with  those  who  buy. 

Horace  M.  S wetland,  of  New  York,  one  of  the  largest  trade 
paper  publishers  in  the  world,  says : 

"It  may  be  stated  as  a  cardinal  principle  that  wherever  an 
industry  is  served  by  a  thoroughly  competent  industrial  publica- 
tion its  pages  offer  the  cheapest  advertising  that  that  industry 
can  buy." 

H.  E.  Cleland,  long  regarded  as  an  expert  in  the  technical 
advertising  field,  in  an  address  before  the  Associated  Advertising 
Clubs  of  the  World  that  won  the  Higham  Prize  as  the  most  con- 
structive delivered  at  the  St.  Louis  Convention,  gave  these 
reasons  for  the  economy  and  resultfulness  of  trade  paper 
advertising : 

"First — The  editorial  character  of  each  paper  limits  its  circulation 
to  those  men  in  an  industry  or  trade  who  are  responsible  for  results. 
They  are  the  men  who  actually  buy  or  recommend  the  buying  of  the 
machinery  or  merchandise  advertised  in  the  paper. 

"Second — The  buying  power  of  the  subscriber  represents  an  in- 
finitely greater  sum  than  the  buying  power  per  subscriber  of  any  other 
class  of  publications  because  each  buyer  purchases  for  business  and 
not  for  private  consumption. 

"Third — The  editorial  contents  of  the  paper  are  in  harmony  with 
the  advertising  pages.  The  former  tells  a  man  'how'  and  the  second 
shows  'what  with.' 


158  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

"These  three  fundamental  reasons  form  the  backbone  of  effective 
economy  in  advertising.  Business  paper  advertising  is  economical 
because  it  reaches — and  the  advertiser  only  pays  for — a  circulation  of 
tremendous  buying  power,  which  is  continually  being  taught  by  the 
publication  itself  to  want  the  products  advertised." 

In  an  article  in  the  Dry  Goods  Reporter,  of  Chicago,  on  the  ad- 
vertising value  of  trade  papers,  the  writer  says : 

"The  buying  power  of  5,000  readers  of  the  average  trade  paper  is 
greater  than  that  of  500,000  readers  of  the  average  popular  medium, 
and  the  advertiser  who  will  avail  himself  of  the  privilege  of  winning 
the  acquaintance  and  confidence  of  those  men  through  their  own 
business  journals  will  find  a  new  and  signal  solution  to  the  increasingly 
difficult  problem  of  getting  efficiency  out  of  his  advertising  outlay." 

Proof  of  the  statements  made  above  is  readily  available. 
Trade-paper  advertising  in  15  years  brought  a  soda  fountain 
house  from  a  position  of  obscurity  to  a  point  where  it  is  the  largest 
in  the  world.  Through  the  use  of  double-page  spreads  in  five 
trade  papers,  at  an  expense  of  $4,000,  a  contractor  secured 
$8,000,000  worth  of  new  business  in  a  year's  time.  The  Royal 
Waste  Company,  of  Rahway,  N.  J.,  by  the  investment  of  2^ 
per  cent,  of  its  sales  in  trade  paper  publicity  was  able  to  win,  in  a 
few  months,  a  commanding  position  in  the  trade.  Its  slogan 
"Our  Waste  Your  Gain"  is  known  wherever  cotton  waste  is  used. 

Industrial  Publications. — A  group  of  publications  that  wield 
a  tremendous  influence  is  made  up  of  trade  and  technical  publica- 
tions representing  the  leading  industries  of  the  country.  In  the 
amount  of  capital  invested,  in  the  cost  of  maintenance,  and  in  the 
volume  of  advertising  carried  they  easily  lead  all  other  business 
papers. 

Formerly  trade  papers  had  little  excuse  for  their  existence. 
The  most  of  them  were  poorly  edited,  wretchedly  printed,  and 
had  small  circulations.  They  contained  very  little  news  and  few 
articles  that  were  of  value  to  their  subscribers.  In  fact, 
many  were  established  for  the  sole  purpose  of  "  pulling  the  leg" 
of  the  more  important  manufacturers  engaged  in  the  industries 
represented. 

To-day  business  papers  are  conducted  by  experts  who  receive 
large  salaries.  In  fact  their  publishers  are  obliged  to  compete 


ADVERTISING  VALUE  OF  TRADE  AND  CLASS  PAPERS  159 

with  great  manufacturing,  industrial  and  commercial  houses 
that  are  always  on  the  lookout  for  brainy  men,  in  securing  the 
services  of  expert  writers.  These  journals  are  now  regarded 
as  indispensable  to  the  trades  to  which  they  are  devoted.  They 
print  the  news  of  the  week  in  each  particular  field;  they  give 
market  quotations  and  publish  articles  upon  the  business  topics 
in  which  their  readers  are  most  interested.  The  engineering 
paper,  for  instance,  contains  a  list  of  new  plants  that  are  being 
installed,  or  are  contemplated;  presents  discussions  of  intricate 
problems  encountered  by  engineers  in  their  work  and  tells  how 
they  were  solved;  gives  descriptions  of  new  inventions  that 
promise  to  be  of  value  to  the  trade,  etc.  Such  a  periodical  enables 
the  engineer  in  the  wilderness  of  the  Northwest  to  keep  in  pro- 
fessional touch  with  his  fellows  in  the  big  cities. 

These  industrial  and  technical  journals  reach  special  groups  of 
readers  who  are  buyers  of  raw  or  manufactured  materials,  and 
who  are  dependent  upon  them  for  information  as  to  prices'  and 
markets.  Every  manufacturer  of  machinery,  every  electrical 
engineer,  every  factory  owner  is  always  on  the  lookout  for  new 
devices  that  will  reduce  the  cost  of  production  or  lessen  the  hours 
of  labor.  What  better  medium  can  there  be  for  presenting  an 
article  employed  in  a  trade  or  industry  than  the  publication 
representing  it?  That  there  is  none,  in  the  opinion  of  thousands 
of  advertisers,  is  indicated  by  the  volume  of  advertising  carried 
by  such  periodicals.  A  single  issue  of  the  Iron  Age  has  contained 
450  pages  of  advertising.  Special  editions  of  the  Textile  World 
the  Dry  Goods  Economist,  the  Automobile  Journal,  and  a  dozen 
other  trade  publications,  have  printed  as  much  advertising. 

Farm  Publications. — Of  the  several  groups  of  periodicals  one 
of  the  most  important,  in  point  of  circulation  and  influence,  is 
composed  of  agricultural  publications,  of  which  512  are  issued. 
Of  these  only  a  comparatively  small  number  have  attained  na- 
tional distribution,  the  circulations  of  the  majority  being  restricted 
to  certain  states  or  sections  of  the  country.  Some  are  devoted  to 
the  general  subject  of  farming — the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  the 
use  of  fertilizers,  rotation  of  crops,  and  the  discussion  of  every-day 
farm  problems.  Others  specialize  on  stock  and  poultry  raising, 
on  bee  culture,  dairy  production,  etc.  . 


160  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

The  field  covered  by  agricultural  papers  is  much  more  extensive 
and  important  than  most  people  suppose.  It  is  a  fact,  however, 
that  it  is  the  country  and  not  the  city  that  furnishes  the  bulk  of 
ordinary  trade.  Sixty  out  of  the  ninety  millions  of  our  popula- 
tion live  in  rural  districts  and  in  towns  of  less  than  10,000  popula- 
tion of  these  30,000,000  actually  reside  on  farms.  In  other 
words,  in  order  to  reach  two-thirds  of  our  population  an  advertiser 
must  use  mediums  that  go  to  people  living  in  towns  of  10,000  and 
under. 

Buying  Power  of  Farmers. — While  the  farmers  have  always  been 
the  largest  wealth  producers  there  was  a  time  when  they  received 
only  a  small  share  of  the  value  of  their  products.  Some  of  us 
can  remember  when  the  financial  market  was  flooded  with  West- 
ern farm  mortgages  paying  from  6  to  12  per  cent,  interest;  when 
the  small  cotton  planters  of  the  South  were  so  enmeshed  in  the 
usurers'  nets  that  their  crops  were  mortgaged  for  nearly  their  full 
value  and  the  money  spent,  before  they  were  grown. 

During  the  decade  immediately  preceding  the  great  war  the 
farmer  began  to  come  into  his  own.  The  introduction  of  the 
telephone  and  automobile  brought  him  into  closer  contact  with 
his  markets  and  enabled  him  to  get  better  prices  for  his  products. 
Improved  agricultural  machinery  and  the  adoption  of  business 
methods  in  farm  management  were  instrumental  in  increasing 
his  crops  and  in  reducing  the  cost  of  raising  them.  Then  came 
the  world  war  that  sent  the  prices  of  all  food  stuffs  to  unpreced- 
ented high  levels.  Wheat  that  only  a  short  time  before  had 
sold  at  60  cents,  and  a  little  later  at  $1  a  bushel,  went  up  to  $2.50 
and  $2.75  a  bushel.  Beef,  pork  and  lamb  were  sold  at  an  advance 
of  300  per  cent.  The  demand,  even  at  these  figures,  was  greater 
than  the  supply.  Hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of 
grain  and  food  supplies  of  various  kinds  were  sent  abroad,  not 
only  to  feed  our  own  soldiers  and  those  of  the  Allies,  but  to 
keep  the  inhabitants  of  nearly  every  country  of  Europe  from 
starvation. 

No  authentic  figures  are  available  showing  to  what  extent  the 
wealth  of  the  farmers  was  increased  by  the  extraordinary  condi- 
tions prevailing  during  and  immediately  following  the  great  war, 
but  the  present  average  income  is  $3,500  a  year.  No  other 


ADVERTISING  VALUE  OF  TRADE  AND  CLASS  PAPERS  161 

class  of  our  population  possesses  such  aggregate  buying  power. 
The  home  of  the  farmer  of  to-day  is  equipped  with  practically 
the  same  conveniences  as  that  of  the  city  dweller.  He  sends  his 
children  to  the  best  schools  and  colleges.  A  $300  or  $400  piano 
occupies  the  place  in  the  parlor  once  held  by  the  $25  or  $50  parlor 
organ.  A  victrola  or  graphophone,  with  an  assortment  of  the 
latest  operatic,  instrumental  or  song  records,  stands  in  the  corner 
of  the  room.  Gas  or  electric  light  has  superseded  the  kerosene 
lamps  of  yesterday.  The  kitchen  is  equipped  with  a  washing 
machine  and  the  dairy  with  a  cream  separator  and  a  power  churn. 
The  farmer's  wife  and  daughter  wear  hats,  wraps  and  gowns 
of  the  latest  mode,  ordered  from  New  York  or  Chicago  shops. 
The  telephone  keeps  him  in  touch  with  his  neighbors,  no 
matter  how  far  away,  and  when  he  goes  to  town  he  rides  in  an 
automobile. 

In  order  to  reach  the  farmer  the  standard  agricultural  paper  is 
employed.  He  subscribes  for  it,  not  to  be  amused  or  entertained, 
but  to  get  information  that  will  help  him  in  his  business,  that 
will  tell  him  how  to  get  rid  of  insect  pests  that  destroy  his  crops 
or  show  him  how  to  secure  better  prices  for  his  products  through 
the  exercise  of  greater  care  in  packing.  Because  of  the  very  close 
relationship  that  exists  between  the  farmer  and  the  agricultural 
paper  he  reads  weekly  or  monthly,  advertisements  appearing  in 
its  pages  carry  greater  weight  with  him  than  those  appearing  in 
other  publications. 

A  Missouri  farmer,  without  making  a  single  inquiry,  sent  his 
check  for  a  $2,000  order  of  merchandise  to  an  advertiser  whose 
announcement  appeared  in  his  favorite  agricultural  journal.  He 
knew  nothing  about  the  reliability  of  the  manufacturer,  but  the 
fact  that  the  latter's  advertisement  was  admitted  to  its  columns 
was  to  him  sufficient  proof  of  his  honesty.  In  other  words,  the 
farm  paper  had,  through  its  straightforward  policy  and  helpful 
attitude  toward  its  readers,  gained  his  confidence  and  good  will. 
It  is  because  of  this  confidence  that  advertisements  appearing 
in  the  farm  journals  bring  such  a  hearty  response  from  their 
subscribers.  Through  them  manufacturers  in  one  month  sold 
$60,000  worth  of  automobiles  and  $25,000  worth  of  pianos  hi  one 

county  in  Iowa  alone. 
11 


162  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Class  Publications.-^-Under  the  head  of  class  publications  may 
be  listed  a  number  of  groups  of  papers.  One  group  is  composed 
of  those  devoted  to  the  professions — law  and  medicine.  Another, 
of  journals  representing  religious  denominations.  A  third,  of 
periodicals  dealing  with  education.  A  fourth  is  made  up  of 
fraternal  or  insurance  papers.  In  fact,  there  is  hardly  a  subject 
or  a  form  of  human  activity  in  which  people  are  interested  that 
is  not  represented  by  one  or  more  periodicals. 

The  religious  field  is  thoroughly  covered.  Every  denomination 
or  religious  organization  has  its  own  papers.  Those  devoted  to 
Catholicism  and  Methodism  are  the  most  numerous  because 
these  churches  have  the  largest  memberships.  The  religious 
papers  have  always  been  regarded  as  good  advertising  mediums 
because  of  their  authority  and  standing.  Business  announce- 
ments in  their  columns  carry  weight  with  their  readers  who 
assume  that  the  advertiser  has  the  endorsement  of  the  church 
authorities.  Unfortunately  there  was  a  time  when  the  publishers 
in  their  eagerness  to  fill  their  papers  with  profitable  advertisements 
did  not  exercise  sufficient  care  in  excluding  misleading  and  decep- 
tive announcements,  the  result  being  that  swindlers  took 
advantage  of  their  laxity  and  obtained  large  sums  of  money  from 
the  trusting  readers  through  the  promotion  of  fake  oil,  mining 
and  other  companies. 

In  recent  years  the  religious  press  has  not  been  open  to  this 
charge.  It  would  now  be  almost  impossible  to  secure  the 
insertion  of  a  misleading  or  deceptive  advertisement  in  any  one 
of  the  standard  publications.  Religious  papers  are  highly  re- 
garded as  advertising  mediums  by  many  of  the  foremost  business 
concerns,  including  Huyler's,  Scott  &  Bowne,  Royal  Baking 
Powder  Co.,  Heinz,  and  the  Procter  &  Gamble  Co.  Their  influ- 
ence in  the  home  is  such  that  advertisements  appearing  in  them 
have  a  strong  pulling  power. 

In  making  your  selection  of  the  business  or  class  papers  you 
are  to  use  in  your  advertising  campaign  you  should,  in  case  you 
are  unfamiliar  with  their  relative  value,  seek  advice  from  business 
men  engaged  in  the  trades  they  represent.  There  are  always 
one  or  two  publications  that  are  regarded  as  leaders  in  the  field 
and  because  of  their  standing  are  the  best  mediums  in  which  to 


ADVERTISING  VALUE  OF  TRADE  AND  CLASS  PAPERS  163 

advertise.  Don't  waste  your  money  on  journals  that  are  trying 
to  get  a  foothold  in  a  field  that  is  already  adequately  represented 
by  well-established  periodicals. 

Don't  worry  about  position.  If  you  can  secure  one  of  the 
cover  pages,  the  first  page  opposite  the  second  page  of  the  cover, 
or  a  page  facing  reading  matter,  well  and  good.  You  will  have 
to  pay  a  premium  for  such  space  and  sometimes  it  is  worth  it. 
But  in  the  event  you  cannot  get  one  of  these  preferred  positions 
be  content  with  any  position  as  your  advertisement  is  certain 
to  be  seen  wherever  it  is  placed.  The  pages  of  business  papers 
are  more  carefully  examined  than  those  of  literary  or  society 
publications.  They  are  read  not  for  entertainment  but  for 
help.  Hence  if  you  have  something  worth  while  to  sell  and 
advertise  it  in  one  of  these  journals  you  are  measurably  sure  of 
finding  among  their  readers  many  who  will  buy  it. 

When  once  you  have  started  advertising  in  one  or  more  of  these 
business  papers  don't  stop,  unless  for  financial  reasons  you  are 
compelled  to  do  so.  Start  in  with  the  maximum  amount  of 
space  you  can  afford  to  use  throughout  the  year.  If  it  is  a 
monthly  don't  advertise  one  month  and  drop  out  the  next  with  a 
view  of  saving  money.  Trade  papers  are  kept  on  file  a  long 
time  after  their  date  of  issue.  If  a  man  who  saw  your  ad  in  one 
issue,  happens,  in  trying  to  find  it  a  few  weeks  later,  to  pick  up 
an  issue  in  which  it  did  not  appear,  he  may  conclude  you  have 
gone  out  of  business  or  that  you  have  discontinued  the  manu- 
facture of  the  article  you  were  advertising.  When  you  take 
your  place  hi  the  ring  stay  there  until  you  are  either  licked  or 
you  win  out.  Plunges  are  wholly  speculative.  It  is  better  to  use 
a  quarter  page  in  every  issue  of  a  weekly  or  monthly  trade  paper 
than  a  page  every  fourth  issue.  Keep  your  flag  flying  at  the 
top  of  the  mast  all  of  the  time  when  once  you  have  put  it  up,  in 
order  that  the  world  may  know  you  are  still  alive  and  doing 
business. 

Questions 

1.  In  what  ways  do  business  publications  differ  from  general  magazines? 

2.  What  is  the  difference  between  trade  and  class  papers? 

3.  What  is  the  chief  argument  in  behalf  of  these  publications  as  advertis- 
ing mediums? 


164  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

4.  Give  H.  E.  Cleland's  three  reasons  for  the  economy  and  resultfulness  of 
trade  paper  advertising. 

5.  Give  an  instance  of  the  successful  use  of  this  medium. 

6.  How  many  farm  publications  are  there?     Name  some  of  them. 

7.  What  can  be  said  regarding  the  buying  power  of  farmers? 

8.  Why  are  trade  and  technical  publications  of  special  value  to  the 
manufacturer?     Give  the  names  of  several  with  which  you  are  acquainted. 

9.  What  are  class  publications? 

10.  What  are  the  arguments  in  behalf  of  religious  papers? 

11.  Give  several  suggestions  concerning  the  use  of  advertising  space  in 
business  periodicals. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
ADVANTAGES  OF  OUTDOOR  ADVERTISING 

Outdoor  advertising  is  the  oldest  form  of  written  advertising 
we  know  anything  about.  In  the  Louvre,  in  Paris,  may  be  seen 
a  poster,  made  of  papyrus,  dated  146  B.C.,  offering  a  reward  for 
the  recovery  of  two  slaves  who  had  escaped  from  Alexandria,  in 
Egypt.  Another  found  in  a  temple  in  Jerusalem  and  issued  in 
the  reign  of  Herod  the  Great,  forbade  the  entrance  of  foreigners 
to  certain  parts  of  the  temple  upon  pain  of  death.  In  the 
British  Museum  in  London  there  are  exhibited  well-preserved 
posters,  also  of  papyrus,  taken  from  the  walls  of  buildings  in 
Pompeii  and  Jerusalem. 

From  the  early  days  of  civilization  until  now  the  poster  has 
been  a  popular  medium  for  placing  before  the  public  commercial, 
religious,  or  political  information.  Wherever  men  congregate 
posters  have  been  found  effective.  When  placed  upon  walls  or 
billboards  on  public  thoroughfares  where  they  can  be  easily  seen 
they  usually  arrest  the  attention  of  passers-by  long  enough  to 
put  across  the  message  they  convey. 

To  85  per  cent,  of  the  population  outdoor  advertising  offers  a 
blackboard  from  which  there  is  no  turning  away.  It  teaches 
people  when  they  do  not  know  they  are  being  taught.  Thou- 
sands of  persons  who  are  indifferent  to  newspaper  or  magazine 
advertising  cannot  escape  the  lure  of  the  attractive  posters,  the 
printed  bulletins,  or  the  flashing  electric  light  signs  that  greet  them 
on  every  side. 

Outdoor  Advertising  Involves  No  Expense  to  the  Reader. 
Newspapers  and  magazines  must  be  bought  before  the  ad- 
vertisements they  contain  secure  an  attentive  audience.  Outdoor 
publicity  necessitates  no  turning  of  pages,  no  examination 
of  endless  columns  of  text  and  advertising  matter.  It  greets 
the  eye  of  the  shopper  on  the  way  to  the  store,  the  merchant 
going  to  and  from  his  place  of  business,  the  idler  in  search  of 

165 


166  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

entertainment,  and  the  worker  returning  to  his  home  after  a 
day's  toil. 

The  three  most  popular  forms  of  outdoor  advertising  are  the 
poster,  the  painted  sign  or  bulletin,  and  electric  light  displays.  Of 
these  the  one  most  frequently  called  into  service  by  national 
advertisers  is  the  poster,  which  takes  the  place  of  the  bellman  of 
Colonial  days.  As  we  have  already  noted  it  was  in  use  long 
before  the  Christian  Era  began.  Its  earliest  employment  was 
by  kings,  emperors  and  other  rulers  to  convey  proclamations  to 
their  subjects.  Then  the  merchants  adopted  it  as  a  medium  for 
advertising  their  goods.  In  the  time  of  Christ  they  even  hung 
posters  about  the  necks  of  idols  in  the  temples  of  Greece  and 
Rome. 

In  our  day  the  circuses  and  the  patent  medicine  manufacturers 
were  the  first  to  perceive  the  value  and  make  full  use  of  the  poster 
for  advertising  purposes.  P.  T.  Barnum,  L.  B.  Lent,  John 
Robinson,  James  A.  Bailey  and  other  circus  owners  in  the 
seventies  depended  upon  posters  displayed  on  billboards,  fences, 
barns  and  even  houses  to  fill  their  tents  in  the  cities  and  towns 
where  they  exhibited.  The  posters  were  crude  in  design  and 
coloring.  The  showmen  vied  with  each  other  in  displaying 
pictures  of  weird-looking  animals  that  never  existed  except  in 
the  imagination  of  the  artists  who  drew  them  but  which,  the  cir- 
cus owners  asserted,  were  on  exhibition  in  their  menageries; 
and  of  acrobats  and  equestrians  defying  all  the  laws  of  gravita- 
tion. The  more  improbable  they  were  the  more  eager  people 
were  to  see  the  show.  During  the  last  few  years  there  has  been 
a  great  improvement  in  the  character  of  circus  poster  advertising. 
It  is  still  flamboyant  but  much  more  truthful. 

No  less  successful  in  the  use  of  posters  in  those  early  days  were 
the  manufacturers  of  patent  medicines,  liniments  and  other 
external  remedies  such  as  Flagg's  Instant  Relief,  Hostetter's 
Bitters,  Ayer's  Hair  Vigor,  Hood's  Sarsaparilla,  and  Beecham's 
Pills. 

Present-day  posters  are  in  many  instances  veritable  works  of 
art.  A  number  of  our  foremost  painters  and  illustrators  design 
them  for  the  largest  national  advertisers.  Some  of  their  crea- 
tions are  so  well  executed  that  if  reduced  in  size  and  reproduced 


ADVANTAGES  OF  OUTDOOR  ADVERTISING 


167 


LIGHT 

UNION   MADE 

ve  rails 


outwear  two 
ordinary  pair 


Posters. — In  most  of  the  commercial  posters,  of  which  the  above  are  examples, 
illustrations  have  been  found  to  add  so  much  to  their  appeal  value  that  they  are 
generally  employed.  Care  is  taken  to  have  them  properly  displayed  in  appro- 
priate surroundings.  Some  posters  are  veritable  works  of  art. 


168 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


Painted  Bulletins. — The  United  States  Tire  advertisement  shown  in  the  lower 
panel  is  one  of  several  thousand  painted  bulletins  erected  along  the  highways  of 
the  country.  They  are  popular  with  automobilists  because  they  present  interest- 
ing historical  data  about  places  neur  which  they  are  erected. 


ADVANTAGES  OF  OUTDOOR  ADVERTISING  169 

in  oils  on  canvas  they  would  bring  good  prices  from  art  connois- 
seurs. Maxfield  Parish's  designs  for  the  posters  of  the  Fisk 
Tire  &  Rubber  Company,  James  Montgomery  Flagg's  pictures 
on  the  United  States  Rubber  Company's  posters,  and  Charles 
Dana  Gibson's  Liberty  Loan  poster  creations  show  that  the  best 
that  art  can  give  to  advertising  is  none  too  good.  Art  does  not 
demean  itself  in  lending  its  aid  to  the  adornment  of  business 
messages  that  will  be  seen  by  millions.  If  the  mission  of  art 
is  to  uplift  and  appeal  to  the  higher  emotions,  where  can  it  find 
a  greater  or  more  worthy  audience  than  is  reached  by  the  ad- 
vertisements seen  on  the  billboards  or  in  the  magazines  and 
newspapers? 

Posters  are  used  by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture for  various  purposes.  Railroads  find  them  effective  in 
attracting  homesteaders  to  their  farm  lands.  Government  offi- 
cials have  declared  that  without  posters  the  task  of  raising 
billions  of  dollars  through  bond  sales  during  the  great  war  would 
have  been  much  more  difficult.  Cities  and  states  have  em- 
ployed them  to  secure  manufacturing  plants.  Political  parties 
regard  them  as  indispensable  in  national  campaigns.  Manu- 
facturers of  automobiles,  paints,  articles  of  food,  soap,  tobacco 
products,  clothing,  shoes,  furniture  and  the  hundred  and  one 
articles  entering  into  home  consumption,  who  seek  national 
distribution  for  their  goods,  make  large  appropriations  for  this 
form  of  publicity. 

The  Michigan  Agricultural  College  and  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agricultural  put  on  a  campaign  to  increase  the 
consumption  of  milk  in  that  State.  Three  posters  were  shown, 
one  to  interest  the  children,  one  the  women,  and  one  the 
men.  At  the  end  of  two  weeks  the  consumption  of  milk  had 
increased  10  per  cent.;  cottage  cheese,  3  per  cent.,  and  butter, 
15  per  cent. 

Tile  advantages  of  poster  advertising,  as  enumerated  by  its 
advocates,  are  these: 

First,  the  poster  is  of  heroic  size — the  24-sheet  stand,  in  com- 
mon use,  being  9^  ft.  deep  by  21  ft.  in  length.  It  is  mounted 
in  a  frame  11  X  25  ft.,  leaving  a  margin  of  white  space  all 
the  way  around  it,  thus  giving  it  greater  prominence. 


170  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Second,  it  has  the  attraction  of  color,  the  value  of  which  in  catch- 
ing the  eye  cannot  be  measured.  Moreover,  the  actual  appearance 
of  the  goods  exploited  can  be  faithfully  and  realistically  repro- 
duced and  their  attractive  qualities  set  forth. 

Third,  the  poster,  because  of  its  bigness,  allows  the  display  of 
the  name  or  trade-mark  of  the  article,  or  the  name  of  the  manu- 
facturer in  letters  of  such  large  size  that  they  can  be  easily  read  at 
a  considerable  distance.  Moreover,  it  affords  the  artist  an 
opportunity  to  employ  designs  of  a  most  appealing  character  in 
the  adornment  of  the  text.  Pictorial  posters  will  sell  goods  to 
the  illiterate  and  to  the  foreigner  who  cannot  read  English. 

A  poster  to  be  effective  from  a  selling  standpoint  should  com- 
bine beauty  and  strength  oj  design  and  coloring.  In  order  to 
accomplish  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  intended  it  must  put  its 
message  across  in  a  flash,  say,  two  seconds.  Therefore,  the  text 
should  be  brief  and  contain  at  least  one  well-defined  selling 
idea.  Pictures  that  are  irrelevant  or  that  must  be  studied  to 
reveal  their  meaning  have  no  place  on  a  poster.  People  are 
usually  in  motion,  riding  or  walking,  when  they  pass  by  the 
billboards;  Hence  they  must  take  in  both  the  text  and  illustra- 
tion of  the  poster  at  a  glance.  If  the  former  is  printed  in  small 
display  type  or  if  the  picture  must  be  studied  to  reveal  its  mean- 
ing, then  the  poster  misses  the  mark.  Sometimes  a  poster 
carries  a  picture  and  only  one  line  of  text. 

The  fact  that  most  of  the  posters  seen  on  the  billboards  to-day 
are  the  work  of  skilled  artists  is  proof  that  illustrated  posters 
have  been  found  more  resultful  than  those  in  which  type  alone  is 
employed.  In  any  event  there  should  be  only  one  predominating 
feature  in  a  poster.  When  more  are  employed  the  impression 
made  upon  the  reader  is  confusing  because  of  the  exceedingly 
brief  time  the  observer  has  to  analyze  the  message. 

Some  Mechanical  Details. — In  bill-posting  the  one  sheet 
poster,  28  X  42  in.,  is  the  unit  of  measurement.  The  24-sheet 
poster  which  covers  an  area  of  9^  X  21  ft.  is  the  size  most 
popular  with  advertisers.  Billboards  are  now  made  of  sheet  iron 
rather  than  wood  because  they  retain  their  shape  in  all  kinds  of 
weather  and  require  little  attention  from  year  to  year. 

The  bill-posting  of  the  country  is  controlled  by  the  Poster 


ADVANTAGES  OF  OUTDOOR  ADVERTISING  171 

Advertising  Association,  representing  8,000  plants,  which  has 
done  more  to  standardize  the  business  and  put  it  on  a  sound 
footing  than  any  other  association.  It  has  established  rules  to 
protect  advertisers  from  irresponsible  and  dishonest  bill-posters. 
Through  a  Censorship  Committee  it  keeps  a  sharp  lookout  for 
deceptive  or  objectionable  advertisements  and  will  not  allow 
them  to  appear  on  the  billboards  of  the  organization.  For  some 
time  before  the  prohibition  law  went  into  effect  no  liquor  ad- 
vertisements were  accepted  for  posting. 

What  Posting  Costs. — Rates  for  posting  are  fixed  by  each 
individual  plant  owner.  They  are  based  upon  the  class  of  serv- 
ice rendered  at  so  much  a  sheet  per  month  whether  one  or  a 
million  are  used,  a  bill-poster's  month  being  four  weeks  and  not 
a  calendar  month.  In  New  York,  Chicago,  Philadelphia  and 
Boston  the  rate  is  30  cents  for  regular  locations.  In  towns  of 
from  2,000  to  5,000  in  New  York  State  it  is  9  cents.  In  towns 
of  from  5,000  to  12,000,  it  is  12  cents.  In  the  average  run  of 
towns  it  is  7  cents  a  sheet. 

Displays  on  the  billboards  are  called  "showings."  A  full 
showing  on  all  the  billboards  of  the  United  States  costs  $197,000 
a  month  and  requires  26,138  posters.  Very  few  full  showings 
are  used.  An  advertiser  can  make  a  contract  for  a  three-quarter, 
a  half,  or  a  quarter  showing.  In  the  Manhattan  and  Bronx 
Boroughs  of  New  York  City  there  are  228  regular  and  124  special 
locations  or  stands.  These  cost  from  $7.20  a  month  for  regular 
and  from  $20  to  $30  for  locations  at  dominating  points.  An  ade- 
quate showing  can  be  had  in  these  three  boroughs  for  $3,000. 

The  advertiser  supplies  the  posters  at  his  own  expense,  which 
varies  widely  according  to  the  cost  of  the  design,  the  number  of 
colors  used,  and  the  character  of  the  lithographing  or  printing. 
In  lots  of  5,000,  when  printed  in  from  four  to  six  colors,  the 
cost,  excluding  the  design,  is  from  $1.50  to  $1.75  per  24-sheet 
poster. 

The  advertiser  must  furnish  enough  paper  (the  sheets  compos- 
ing the  poster)  not  only  to  cover  the  boards  once,  but  also  to  re- 
place any  posters  that  may  subsequently  be  defaced  by  boys  or 
spoiled  by  storms.  He  is  given  a  list  of  the  stands  upon  which 
they  are  placed  and  their  locations  in  order  that  he  may  check 


172  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

up  the  posting,  through  his  salesmen  or  inspectors,  to  see  if  it  has 
been  properly  done.  The  Poster  Advertising  Association  has 
its  own  system  for  checking  the  work  of  local  bill-posters  and 
if  they  find  one  who  does  not  live  up  to  his  contract  he  is  com- 
pelled to  make  a  rebate  to  the  advertiser. 

Poster  advertising  is  specially  helpful  in  supporting  newspaper 
and  magazine  campaigns.  The  impression  made  by  advertise- 
ments in  these  mediums  is  continued  and  intensified  by  the 
posters.  They  familiarize  the  public  with  the  name  and  charac- 
ter of  the  product  through  repetition.  In  a  city  in  which  100 
stands  are  located  the  posters  are  telling  their  story  all  day  long 
from  each  of  these  places.  They  are  more  effective  than  100 
men  would  be  calling  out  their  messages  like  the  town  criers  of 
the  Colonial  days,  because  they  have  the  added  attraction  of 
color,  of  variety  of  design  and  of  large  display.  They  are  always 
ready  to  tell  their  story  to  whoever  passes  by. 

Poster  advertising  is  effective  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  but 
renders  its  greatest  service  in  the  Spring,  Summer  and  Fall  when 
people  spend  more  time  out-of-doors,  and  it  therefore  has  a  larger 
"circulation."  Moreover,  the  days  are  longer  and  the  posters 
are  seen  to  better  advantage. 

Valuable  in  Special  Drives. — The  advertiser  finds  posters  of 
great  assistance  in  special  drives  and  intensive  campaigns.  A 
full  showing  in  a  town  attracts  wide  attention. 

The  new  advertiser  should  beware  of  trying  to  cover  too  much 
territory  at  the  start.  Better  try  out  your  product  in  a  few 
cities  and  add  others  as  the  increase  in  business  warrants.  The 
advertising  highway  is  lined  with  corpses  of  advertisers  who 
tried  to  blanket  the  country  with  their  advertising  and  salesman- 
ship efforts.  Insufficient  capital,  an  untried  article  and  an 
inordinate  ambition  to  get  rich  quick  were  some  of  the  causes  of 
their  failure. 

Painted  Signs  and  Bulletins. — In  addition  to  the  hundreds 
of  miles  of  billboards,  having  a  total  area  of  26,000,000  sq.  ft. 
of  surface,  and  used  exclusively  for  poster  advertising  in  2,726 
cities  and  towns,  there  are  about  1,000  solid  miles  of  fence  10 
to  12  ft.  high  devoted  to  painted  signs  and  bulletins.  While  a 
large  proportion  of  the  display  space  is  located  along  railroads 


ADVANTAGES  OF  OUTDOOR  ADVERTISING     173 

and  highways,  a  considerable  amount  is  found  in  the  populous 
cities.  The  railroad  bulletins,  averaging  in  size  10  X  48  ft., 
cost  $10  to  $12  each,  under  a  year's  contract.  A  reduction  is 
made  on  a  two  or  three  years'  contract.  City  bulletins,  aver- 
aging 10  X  20  ft.,  or  a  total  of  200  sq.  ft.,  are  sold  at  a  general 
average  of  30  cents  per  lineal  foot  or  $6  each,  on  a  six  months' 
contract. 

There  is  practically  no  limit  to  the  size  of  painted  bulletins. 
The  bare  walls  of  high  buildings  that  are  exposed  to  view  when 
adjoining  buildings  are  torn  down  to  make  way  for  new  and 
larger  structures  are  frequently  used  for  advertising  purposes. 
A  few  years  ago  the  wall  of  a  skyscraper  on  lower  Broadway  was 
employed  to  advertise  Wilson  Whiskey.  Upon  its  surface  was 
painted  in  colors  the  picture  of  a  typical  Southerner,  100  feet 
tall,  in  the  act  of  making  a  highball  by  the  aid  of  real  water 
running  from  a  30-ft.  syphon  into  a  9-ft.  glass,  with  whiskey 
taken  from  a  48-ft.  bottle.  The  picture  was  so  well  painted 
that  for  weeks  it  was  the  talk  of  the  city  and  thousands  of  people 
journeyed  downtown  to  see  it. 

One  of  the  special  advantages  of  painted  signs  is  that  they  are 
not  affected  by  heavy  rain  storms  and  retain  their  freshness  of 
coloring  for  months.  Changes  of  copy  are  not  made  more  fre- 
quently than  three  or  four  times  a  year. 

The  Appeal  of  Electric  Signs. — Of  all  forms  of  outdoor  adver- 
tising the  latest,  and  by  many  considered  the  most  impressive 
because  of  its  novelty  of  appeal,  is  the  electric  light  display. 
People  may  not  read  the  advertisement  in  the  newspapers  and 
magazines  but  the  message  of  fire  blazing  from  the  roofs  or  fronts 
of  buildings  at  night  compels  their  attention.  There  is  probably 
no  better  way  of  impressing  upon  the  mind  of  the  passer-by  a 
trademark,  the  name  of  a  product  or  firm,  or  a  short  message  of 
any  kind. 

The  most  brilliant  and  beautiful  display  of  electric  sign  ad- 
vertising in  the  world  is  on  view  nightly  on  Broadway  from  34th 
to  59th  Streets,  New  York.  Standing  in  Longacre  Square  the 
spectator  sees  a  bewildering  series  of  electric  light  advertising 
displays — some  glowing  steadily  like  constellations  in  the  heavens; 
some  flashing  out  their  message  for  a  few  seconds  and  then 


174  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

going  out;  some  representing  objects  in  motion;  some  that  appear 
to  develop  under  the  hand  of  a  hidden  artist. 

Along  this  thoroughfare  from  six  o'clock  until  midnight  flows 
the  human  tide  of  the  great  city  to  and  from  a  hundred  theaters 
and  places  of  amusement,  restaurants,  hotels  and  railway  ter- 
minals. It  is  composed  of  from  three  hundred  and  fifty  to  five 
hundred  thousand  people  representing  not  only  New  York  but 
practically  every  city  in  the  United  States  and  every  quarter  of 
the  globe.  Not  one  of  them,  unless  he  is  blind,  fails  to  see  the 
advertising  messages  that  greet  the  eye  from  every  roof  and 
building  front  along  the  Great  White  Way. 

Results  of  Electric  Light  Advertising. — A  few  years  ago  a 
cleanser  of  men's  and  women's  garments  who  had  just  established 
himself  in  New  York  used  a  novel  electric  sign  on  Broadway  to 
advertise  his  business.  Up  to  that  time  the  public  had  never 
heard  of  him.  Thirty  days  later  he  was  doing  business  in 
eleven  states  as  the  result  of  his  electric  light  display. 

Heinz,  of  the  "57  Varieties"  fame,  whose  products  were  ad- 
vertised by  means  of  a  huge  electric  sign  on  the  north  wall  of  the 
Cambridge  Building,  which  occupied  the  lower  end  of  the  triangle 
at  the  junction  of  Broadway  and  Fifth  Avenue,  where  the  Flat- 
iron  Building  now  stands,  once  stated  that  the  advertisement 
brought  him  orders  for  goods  from  Africa,  South  America  and 
Russia. 

Manufacturers  of  various  kinds  of  merchandise  have  asserted 
that  one  of  the  most  valuable  features  of  these  electric  displays 
lies  in  the  fact  that  through  them  they  are  able  to  luence  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  buyers  of  mercantile  lishments 

who  flock  to  New  York  yearly  for  supplies  of  good  :>r  several 
years  the  Nonotuck  Silk  Company  displayed  d  Street 

and  Broadway  an  electric  sign  showing  a  kitten  ^  mg  with  a 
spool  of  Corticelli  Silk,  in  order  to  reach  dressmakers  and  dry- 
goods  dealers  who  purchase  spool  silk  in  large  quantities. 

Perrier,  the  natural  sparkling  table  water,  was  for  some  time 
advertised  by  an  electric  sign,  55  X  108  ft.,  reproducing  the 
fountain  at  Versailles.  Through  a  mechanical  device  ten 
streams  of  water  apparently  rose  from  the  ground  to  a  height  of 
25  ft.  and  fell  back  into  the  great  basin  below,  live  steam  being 


ADVANTAGES  OF  OUTDOOR  ADVERTISING 


175 


Electric  Light  Displays. — These  reproductions  of  notable  night  advertise- 
ments give  little  idea  of  their  real  beauty  and  effectiveness.  The  Wrigley 
display,  in  the  second  panel,  is  the  costliest  yet  erected. 


176  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

utilized  to  produce  the.  effect  of  spray.  Twenty-two  hundred 
and  thirty  electric  lamps  were  employed  in  the  design. 

Another  notable  sign  erected  on  the  roof  of  the  Hotel  Nor- 
mandie  showed  a  realistic  Roman  chariot  race  with  the  horses 
running  at  full  speed  and  the  driver's  tunic  streaming  behind  him 
in  the  wind.  The  appearance  of  motion  was  produced  by  the 
opening  and  closing  of  2,750  switches.  The  sign,  which  was 
40  ft.  long  and  20  ft.  high,  was  composed  of  20,000  electric  light 
bulbs  and  required  a  600  h.p.  engine  to  operate  it.  The  ad- 
vertisements of  various  products  were  flashed  out  on  a  screen 
just  below  the  chariot  design. 

The  largest  of  all  electric  light  signs  on  view  in  New  York  is 
that  of  Wrigley's  Spearmint  Gum,  which  occupies  a  space  200 
ft.  long  and  50  ft.  high  on  the  roof  of  a  building  a  block  long  be- 
tween 43d  and  44th  Streets  on  Broadway.  By  the  use  of  white 
and  colored  bulbs  the  artist  who  designed  it  shows  two  great 
peacocks  with  tails  60  ft.  long,  in  their  natural  colors,  with 
fountains  playing  on  either  side,  while  whimsical  figures  go 
through  a  gymnastic  drill.  Over  17,000  electric  lights  are 
employed. 

Cost  of  Electric  Light  Displays. — The  expense  of  electric 
advertising  displays  depends  upon  their  size  and  location.  The 
Wrigley  sign  above  referred  to  costs  $7,500  a  month  or  $90,000  a 
year.  The  cost  of  the  average  display  ranges  from  $2,000  to 
$1,500  a  month  according  to  locations.  Small  signs  such  as 
appear  in  front  of  stores,  composed  of  24-8  candle  power 
lamps,  are  furnished  free  by  some  of  the  electric  light  companies, 
provided  a  minimum  of  $3  is  paid  each  month  for  the  electric 
current  supplied.  The  larger  signs  cost  from  $5  to  $15. 

Slogan  Signs. — Slogan  signs  are  used  by  many  cities  for 
advertising  purposes.  They  are  usually  erected  near  railroad 
stations  where  they  can  be  seen  by  passengers  on  the  trains. 
The  cost  of  operation  is  small — $3  to  $5  a  night.  Here  are  a 
few  of  the  slogans  now  employed:  Atlantic  City,  "America's 
Playground;"  Galveston,  "The  Treasure  Island  of  America;" 
New  Orleans,  "Welcome  to  the  Winter  Capital  of  America;" 
Schenectady,  "Lights  and  Heats  the  World;"  Chattanooga, 
"The  Dynamo  of  Dixie." 


ADVANTAGES  OF  OUTDOOR  ADVERTISING  177 

In  all  electric  light  advertising  the  advertising  message  must 
be  brief  and  expressive  of  a  strong  selling  point  unless  its  purpose 
is  simply  to  present  the  name  of  a  product,  firm  or  business. 
The  importance  of  using  a  picture  or  design  having  pronounced 
attention  value  should  not  be  overlooked.  People  will  remember 
a  striking  illustration  long  after  they  have  forgotten  the  inscrip- 
tion that  accompanied  it. 

In  selecting  locations  choose  those  on  the  busiest  thorough- 
fares where  they  will  be  seen  by  the  largest  number  of  people. 
Some  of  the  best  are  found  near  theatres,  department  stores, 
popular  places  of  assembly,  public  squares,  and  railway  terminals 
when  close  to  the  business  center  of  a  town. 

Questions 

1.  What  is  the  oldest  poster  of  which  we  have  knowledge? 

2.  In  what  one  way  does  outdoor  advertising  differ  from  all  other  kinds? 

3.  What  are  its  three  most  popular  forms? 

4.  Who  were  first  to  make  an  extensive  use  of  posters? 

5.  For  what  other  purposes  are  posters  employed  besides  selling  goods? 
Give  examples. 

6.  Name  three  specific  advantages  of  poster  advertising. 

7.  What  are  the  characteristics  of  an  effective  poster? 

8.  What  is  the  unit  of  measurement? 

9.  How  many  bill-posting  plants  are  there  in  the  U.  S.  and  how  are  they 
controlled? 

10.  Give  some  idea  as  to  the  cost  of  posting. 

11.  How  can  this  form  of  advertising  be  helpful  in  supporting  news- 
paper and  magazine  campaigns? 

12.  What  is  the  cost  of  painted  bulletins? 

13.  What  are  the  advantages  of  electric  light  advertising? 

14.  Give  examples  of  its  successful  employment  by  national  advertisers. 

15.  Describe  any  one  of  the  electric  light  displays  given  in  this  chapter. 

16.  Give  some  idea  as  to  the  cost  of  this  kind  of  advertising. 

17.  Give  an  example  of  a  slogan  sign. 

18.  What  are  the  best  locations  for  electric  light  displays? 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  APPEAL  OF  STREET  CAR  ADVERTISING 

One  of  the  mediums  that,  figuratively  speaking,  compels  you 
to  read  its  advertisements  whether  you  want  to  or  not,  is  the 
street  car.  When  seated  in  one  of  these  vehicles  you  see  dis- 
played before  you  in  tempting  array  a  row  of  fourteen  or  more 
attractive  cards,  the  most  of  them  printed  in  colors  and  appro- 
priately illustrated,  each  carrying  an  advertising  message. 
Above  your  head  is  a  similar  arrangement  of  cards. 

As  long  as  you  continue  to  read  a  newspaper  or  look  out  of 
the  window  none  of  the  cards  will  get  your  attention,  but  the 
moment  you  lay  aside  your  paper  and  allow  your  eyes  to  wander 
about,  the  strong  appeal  of  the  cards  makes  itself  felt,  and  before 
you  know  it  you  are  taking  in  their  advertising  message.  During 
the  fifteen  minutes  or  more  that  your  trip  takes  you  cannot,  unless 
you  deliberately  exercise  your  will-power,  keep  your  eyes  away 
from  them. 

In  order  that  we  may  better  understand  the  value  of  the  street 
car  as  an  advertising  medium  let  us  look  at  a  few  facts  concerning 
the  street  railway  industry. 

The  increase  in  street  railway  mileage  in  recent  years  has  been 
amazing.  There  are  now  few  cities  in  the  United  States  with 
5,000  inhabitants,  unless  they  are  located  on  the  sides  of  hills  or 
mountains  where  the  grades  are  too  steep  to  allow  of  their  opera- 
tion, that  do  not  have  street  railroads.  In  New  York  City  alone 
there  are  108  lines,  including  the  elevated  and  subway  systems. 
During  the  last  twenty-five  years  the  greatest  development  has 
been  in  the  contruction  of  interurban  roads  that  link  together 
half  a  dozen  or  more  towns  or  cities. 

The  building  of  these  transportation  lines  has  done  more  than 
anything  else  to  stimulate  the  movement  of  people  from  the 
densely  populated  cities  to  the  suburbs  and  the  open  country 
beyond,  where  living  conditions  are  more  favorable  to  health 

178 


THE  APPEAL  OF  STREET  CAR  ADVERTISING          179 

and  the  rearing  of  children.  They  also  bring  the  farmer  into 
closer  touch  with  marketing  centers  where  he  can  sell  his  products 
and  furnish  the  members  of  his  family  educational  and  social 
advantages  that  may  be  derived  from  high-class  schools,  theaters, 
concerts  and  other  forms  of  entertainment. 

In  the  larger  cities  the  street  cars  are  indispensable  for  carrying 
the  armies  of  workmen,  clerks  and  other  business  men  and  women 
to  and  from  their  places  of  employment.  It  is  when  a  strike 
occurs  among  street  railway  operators  and  the  cars  cease  to  run 
that  people  find  out  how  dependent  they  are  upon  them.  On 
the  occasion  of  a  big  street  railway  strike  in  New  York  a  few 
years  ago  the  retail  merchants  lost  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars  because  customers  from  distant  parts  of  the  city  and  from 
the  suburban  towns  could  not  get  to  their  stores;  manufacturers 
could  not  operate  their  plants  effectively  because  of  the  inability 
of  their  employees  to  reach  them,  and  the  theaters  played  to 
empty  seats. 

According  to  the  reports  of  the  Public  Service  Commission 
the  number  of  passengers  carried  by  the  rapid  transit  and  surface 
railway  lines  of  New  York  City  in  1919  was  2,079,942,604,  an 
increase  of  104,430,015  over  1918.  .  The  average  traffic  each  day 
during  the  fiscal  year  was  5,700,000  which  about  equals  the  popu- 
lation of  the  city.  Each  of  the  10,000  cars  in  constant  use  on  the 
108  lines  carried  an  average  of  570  people  daily.  The  records  of 
street  railway  traffic  in  other  cities  show  that  a  proportionate 
number  of  passengers  travel  on  their  several  lines. 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  understand  why  national  and  local 
advertisers  invest  approximately  $14,000,000  a  year  in  street 
car  publicity.  A  medium  that  reaches  such  a  large  proportion 
of  the  community  is  worth  your  careful  consideration. 

Advantages  of  Street  Car  Advertising. — Among  the  advantages 
claimed  for  street  car  advertising  are  the  following: 

1.  All  Advertisers  Occupy  the  Same  Space. — Therefore  every 
advertiser  has  an  equal  chance  to  put  his  message  across.  This 
prevents  the  merchant  or  manufacturer  who  has  a  lot  of  money  to 
spend  from  blanketing  the  advertising  of  a  struggling  competitor. 
Every  advertiser  is  placed  on  the  same  footing.  This  is  real 
democracy  in  advertising. 


180  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

2.  Street   Car  Advertising   Reaches   the   Masses. — Fifty-eight 
per  cent,  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  city  ride  on  the  street  cars  twice 
daily.     They  include  all   classes  and  represent  a  majority  of 
the  buying  public — the  people  whose  patronage  business  men 
are  anxious  to  secure. 

3.  When  People  Ride  on  Street  Cars  They  Are  in  a  Receptive 
Mood. — Unless  they  read  newspapers  or  talk  to  acquaintances 
there  is  nothing  to  engage  their  attention.     Those  who  travel 
over  the  same  road  every  day  are  not  interested  in  the  buildings 
or  scenery  along  the  route,  and  therefore  do  not  spend  much  time 
looking  out  of  the  windows.     In  glancing  about  the  car  their 
eyes  naturally  fall  upon  the  artistic  advertising  cards  displayed 
directly  in  front  of  them.     Their  attractive  features  arouse  their 
interest  and  they  read  them. 

4.  The  Last  Advertisements  a   Woman  Sees   When  She  Goes 
Shopping  Are  the  Street  Car  Cards. — She  may  have  made  up  her 
mind  as  to  what  she  is  going  to  buy  before  leaving  home,  and 
perhaps  not  one  of  the  articles  thus  advertised  is  upon  her  list,  and 
yet  as  she  sits  there,  pocket-book  in  hand,  looking  at  the  attractive 
announcements  she  may  become  so  favorably  impressed  by 
them  that  on  arriving  at  her  destination  she  will  purchase  one  or 
more  of  the  articles  she  had  seen  exploited. 

5.  Street  Car  Advertising  Sustains  and  Strengthens  the  Impres- 
sion Previously  Made  by  Advertisements  Appearing  in  the  News- 
papers, Magazines,  and  Other  Mediums. — The  brief  messages, 
usually  artistically  illustrated,  reiterate  the  sales  arguments  with 
which  the  public  has  already  become  familiar.     The  person  who 
sees  these  advertisements  twice  a  day  for  weeks  at  a  time  is, 
consciously  or  unconsciously,  influenced  by  them. 

The  standard  card  used  in  street  car  advertising  is  11  X  21  in. 
The  advertiser  therefore  knows  that  his  cards  will  fit  the  display 
racks  of  every  street  car  in  every  city  in  the  country.  The  adop- 
tion of  a  uniform  size  simplifies  the  work  of  both  the  printer  and 
the  agency  that  handles  the  campaign,  and  lessens  the  expense. 

Brevity  a  Necessity  in  Car  Card  Copy. — Owing  to  space  limi- 
tations the  number  of  words  used  on  a  card  should  not  exceed 
40  or  50  if  the  text  is  to  be  set  in  type  that  can  be  read  at  a 
distance  of  from  6  to  12  ft.  The  fewer  the  number,  the 


THE  APPEAL  OF  STREET  CAR  ADVERTISING 


181 


182  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

greater  the  opportunity  for  display.  Some  of  the  most  effective 
cards  we  have  seen  contained  less  than  10  words.  In  advertise- 
ments of  this  kind  it  is  imperative  that  the  type  should  be  plain 
in  outline  and  easy  to  read. 

The  text  should  present  one  and  usually  not  more  than  two 
selling  points  about  the  article  advertised  on  each  card  of  a 
series.  The  sentences  should  be  brief  and  so  constructed  that 
persons  having  a  limited  education  will  have  no  trouble  in  under- 
standing them.  Avoid  the  use  of  foreign,  technical,  or  unfamiliar 
words.  The  usual  aim  of  the  car  card  is  to  reach  all  classes  of 
people.  Many  of  the  patrons  of  street  railway  lines,  and  especi- 
ally those  born  in  countries  where  languages  other  than  English 
are  spoken,  cannot  grasp  the  meaning  of  many  of  the  long  words 
that  are  in  common  use  here.  There  are  enough  short,  simple 
words  in  our  own  language  to  express  any  selling  ideas  you 
may  have. 

Fully  90  per  cent,  of  ail  car  advertisements  are  illustrated 
for  the  very  good  reason  that  there  is  nothing  that  so  quickly 
catches  and  holds  the  eye  in  advertising  as  an  attractive  picture 
printed  in  colors.  Commercial  art  has  been  so  greatly  improved 
in  recent  years  that  it  is  now  possible  to  reproduce  in  natural  colors 
fruit,  flowers,  food  products  and  other  articles  so  accurately 
that  at  first  it  is  difficult  to  tell  the  artificial  from  the  real. 
Moreover,  some  of  the  best  artists  of  our  time  are  devoting  their 
skill  to  the  preparation  of  illustrations  and  other  designs  for  car 
card  advertisements.  It  is  not  unusual  for  an  advertiser  to  pay 
from  $300  to  $500  for  a  single  picture. 

Be  Careful  in  the  Use  of  Colors. — When  a  card  is  put  through 
seven  or  eight  lithographic  printings  its  character  is  apt  to  be 
impaired.  A  few  well-selected  colors  will  give  the  best  results. 
The  jemployment  of  a  wide  variety  of  colors  in  the  text  matter 
should  be  avoided.  Multi-colored  letters  are  confusing  and 
give  the  impression  of  patchwork. 

Don't  display  the  name  of  your  product  in  such  large  type  that 
little  room  is  left  for  text  and  illustration.  While  prominence 
should  be  given  to  the  name  it  is  also  desirable  to  tell  why  the 
article  is  a  good  purchase.  In  a  recent  successful  campaign  the 
name  of  the  article  was  not  displayed,  but  was  set  in  the  same 


THE  APPEAL  OF  STREET  CAR  ADVERTISING          183 

size  type  as  the  body  matter.  Although  the  advertisements 
contained  not  more  than  fifty  words  of  text  and  carried  no 
illustrations,  the  argument  was  so  skillfully  presented  that  the 
resulting  sales  were  surprisingly  large. 

The  stock  used  in  car  cards  is  usually  six-ply,  enameled  surface 
cardboard,  which  permits  the  use  of  halftones,  wood-cuts,  line- 
cuts  and  lithography.  Only  high-grade  stock  should  be  employed 
as  the  cheaper  grades  will  not  take  colors  well  or  stand  up  under 
the  handling  they  will  receive. 

The  cost  of  producing  car  cards  depends  upon  the  charge 
for  the  design,  the  number  of  colors  employed  and  their  reproduc- 
tion by  lithography  or  ordinary  printing.  For  1,000  cards  the 
cost  of  stock  and  press  work  is  about  as  follows:  1  color,  $25.15; 
2  colors,  $32.35 ;  3  colors,  $41.30 ;  and  4  colors,  $48.65.  The  work 
should  be  done  by  a  concern  that  specializes  in  the  designing 
and  printing  of  car  cards  rather  than  by  the  average  job  printer 
who  turns  out  only  a  few  jobs  of  this  kind  in  a  year.  In  the 
former  case  the  printer,  by  concentrating  his  attention  on  such 
work,  is  able  to  furnish  a  superior  product.  He  employs  men 
who  are  experts  in  designing  and  printing  this  form  of  adver- 
tising, and  although  he  charges  more  than  the  ordinary  printer 
the  superior  character  of  his  work  warrants  the  additional  ex- 
pense. Some  of  the  car  advertising  companies  have  service 
departments  that  prepare  and  furnish  the  cards  at  cost. 

Car  cards  are  changed  weekly  or  monthly  according  to  the 
terms  of  the  contract  made  with  the  advertising  agent  who 
handles  the  business.  John  Wanamaker  once  carried  on  a 
campaign  in  New  York  in  which  the  cards  were  changed  every 
day.  The  expense  involved  in  designing,  printing  and  placing 
them  in  10,000  cars  was,  however,  so  heavy  and  the  results  so 
out  of  proportion  to  the  expense,  that,  at  the  expiration  of  the 
contract,  he  did  not  renew  it.  Changing  the  cards  once  a  week 
or  every  other  week  is  sufficient. 

Cost  of  Street  Car  Advertising. — Advocates  of  street  car 
advertising  affirm  that  dollar  for  dollar  it  offers  the  advertiser 
more  circulation  and  more  space  in  which  to  tell  and  illustrate 
his  story  than  any  other  medium  of  national  circulation.  One 
of  the  largest  street  car  advertising  companies  that  claims  to 


184  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

control  67  per  cent,  of  the  street  railway  advertising  of  the  coun- 
try, during  the  war  quoted  the  following  rates : 

"For  a  three  months'  run  in  all  the  cars  it  controls,  50  cents  a 
month  per  car;  for  six  months,  from  45  to  62^  cents  and  for  a 
year,  40  cents.  When  less  than  a  full  run  is  taken,  but  not  less 
than  half  the  cars  in  any  town  or  group,  5  cents  extra."  These 
rates  do  not  include  the  cost  of  the  cards.  The  present  rates 
are  higher  and  in  a  country-wide  campaign  the  cost  would  aver- 
age about  65  cents  per  car  per  month. 

The  total  number  of  street  cars  in  the  country  that  are  avail- 
able for  advertising  purposes  is  75,000.  One-tenth  of  all  the 
money  invested  in  street  railway  advertising  is  spent  on  the 
passenger  transportation  lines  of  New  York  City. 

New  York  is  such  a  large  city  and  has  so  many  different  busi- 
ness and  residential  centers  that  it  is  possible  for  the  advertiser  to 
cover  any  one  of  them  by  using  the  street  cars  of  a  comparatively 
few  lines.  As  some  sections  are  regarded  by  advertisers  with 
greater  favor  than  others  the  prices  charged  for  space  in  the 
cars  vary.  The  Broadway  and  Madison  Avenue  lines,  for  in- 
stance, command  a  higher  rate  than  those  running  through  the 
East  Side.  The  advertiser  can  make  his  own  selection  of  street 
railway  lines  and  spend  much  or  little  as  he  may  deem  best. 

The  national  advertiser  can  make  a  contract  with  the  com- 
panies handling  street  railway  advertising  for  a  campaign  cover- 
ing the  states  or  sections  of  the  country  in  which  he  has  his  largest 
distribution.  The  length  of  the  campaign  depends  upon  the 
results  to  be  accomplished.  As  rule  it  is  not  advisable  to  make  a 
contract  for  less  than  six  months  or  a  year.  Three-  or  five-year 
contracts  are  numerous.  It  frequently  happens  in  the  large 
cities  that  all  the  space  in  the  street  cars  is  sold,  in  which  event, 
prospective  advertisers  are  sometimes  obliged  to  wait  several 
months  for  a  chance  to  get  in. 

Results  Achieved  Through  Street  Car  Advertising. — Some  of 
the  biggest  businesses  in  the  country  owe  much  of  their  success  to 
street  car  advertising.  William  Wrigley  began  advertising  his 
chewing  gum  in  this  medium  in  1905.  He  invested  $40,000  the 
first  year,  but  the  results  were  so  unsatisfactory  that  he  was 
about  to  abandon  this  form  of  advertising  when  he  was  per- 


THE  APPEAL  OF  STREET  CAR  ADVERTISING          185 

suaded  to  continue,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  been  using  the 
wrong  kind  of  copy.  The  second  year's  campaign,  in  which  a 
more  attractive  and  convincing  line  of  copy  was  used,  was  so 
satisfactory  that  the  Wrigley  advertising  has  been  running  in  the 
street  cars  ever  since.  The  amount  now  annually  invested  by 
the  company  in  this  medium  is  about  $1,000,000. 

The  Coca-Cola  Company  began  its  career  with  an  initial  ex- 
penditure of  $300  in  street  car  advertising.  This  amount  was 
gradually  increased  until  its  announcements  were  appearing  in 
the  street  cars  of  every  state  in  the  Union.  This  company  is 
now  doing  the  largest  soft  drink  business  in  the  world  and  not  a 
little  of  its  success  is  attributed  by  S.  C.  Dobbs,  the  president,  to 
street  car  advertising. 

When  the  Joseph  Campbell  Company,  manufacturers  of 
Campbell's  Soups,  started  its  first  advertising  campaign  in  the 
street  cars  in  New  York  City  in  1899,  its  total  sales  per  month 
in  the  metropolis  did  not  exceed  16  cases.  The  appropriation 
was  a  small  one,  $350  a  month,  and  for  this  amount  only  a  few 
cars  could  be  used.  The  advertising,  however,  was  so  productive 
that  the  number  was  gradually  increased  until  the  company  was 
using  every  car  in  the  city.  Then  it  extended  its  campaign  to 
other  cities  until,  in  1910,  it  was  advertising  in  practically  every 
street  car  in  the  United  States.  During  this  period  the  annual 
sales  went  up  to  20,000,000  cans. 

In  1911  the  company  dropped  street  car  advertising  and  went 
into  the  newspapers  and  magazines.  At  the  end  of  three  years, 
after  spending  annually  four  times  as  much  money  in  these 
mediums  as  in  street  cars,  with  no  better  results,  the  company 
resumed  its  street  car  advertising  on  the  same  scale  as  before.  It 
is  now  the  largest  manufacturer  of  condensed  soups  in  the  world. 
President  Frailey  recently  made  this  statement  concerning  the 
company's  experience:  "This  business,  aggregating  $2,000,000 
a  year  at  retail  prices,  has  been  built  up  almost  wholly  through 
street  car  advertising." 

Questions 

1.  What  is  the  annual  expenditure  for  street  car  advertising? 

2.  What  are  some  of  the  advantages  claimed  for  this  medium? 


186  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

3.  What  are  the  limitations  as  to  the  number  of  words  that  should  be  used 
on  a  car  card? 

4.  How  many  selling  points  should  be  presented? 

6.  What  precaution  should  be  taken  regarding  the  use  of  colors? 

6.  What  are  the  elements  entering  into  the  cost  of  the  printed  cards? 

7.  How  often  should  car  cards  be  changed? 

8.  How  many  street  cars  are  there  in  New  York? 

9.  In  the  United  States? 

10.  What  is  the  average  monthly  charge  per  car  card? 

11.  For  what  period  should  a  campaign  be  run? 

12.  Give  the  experience  of  the  Joseph  Campbell  Company  in  advertising 
its  soups. 

13.  What  would  be  the  cost  of  a  half-run  of  cars  on  New  York  City's 
transportation  lines? 

14.  If  a  national  advertiser  wanted  to  use  all  the  cars  in  the  United 
States  for  one  month  what  would  be  the  cost? 

15.  Prepare  a  car  card  advertising  Ivory  Soap. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
DIRECT  AND   MAIL  ORDER  ADVERTISING 

Direct  advertising  is  the  term  applied  to  printed  matter  that  is 
sent  by  the  advertiser  direct  to  the  prospect,  usually  by  mail.  Next 
to  the  personal  solicitation  of  a  salesman  it  is  the  most  intimate 
method  of  selling  employed  in  marketing. 

All  businesses  can  use  this  kind  of  advertising.  Many  of  the 
great  industries  depend  upon  it  for  the  bulk  of  their  sales.  Small 
manufacturers,  wholesale  and  retail  merchants  employ  one  or 
more  of  its  principal  mediums.  An  examination  of  the  advertis- 
ing costs  of  a  well-known  steel  furniture  manufacturer  showed 
that  of  every  dollar  invested  16.4  cents  went  for  overhead  charges, 
21.8  cents  for  magazine  advertising,  and  61.8  cents  for  direct 
advertising,  of  which  nearly  one-half  was  spent  for  booklets  and 
folders.  The  appropriations  of  seventeen  national  advertisers 
indicate  that  an  average  of  38  per  cent,  went  for  direct  advertis- 
ing. Tt  is  estimated  that  in  1919  the  total  amount  expended 
was  nearly  $110,000,000. 

Advantages  of  Direct  Advertising. — Some  of  the  advantages 
claimed  for  direct  advertising  are  the  following: 

1.  It  is  Selective  and  Individual. — The  advertiser  can  pick  the 
buyers  with  whom  he  wants  to  do  business  and  hammer  away  at 
them  so  persistently  with  his  battery  of  argument  that  their 
indifference  is  overcome  and  their  interest  aroused.     He  can 
confine  his  campaign  to  one  class  of  people  in  a  single  state  or  he 
can  extend  it  to  several  classes  in  all  the  states. 

2.  It  is  Confidential. — Through  direct  advertising  it  is  possible 
to  get  closer  to  the  prospect  and  talk  to  him  in  a  more  intimate 
manner.    The  latter  is  made  to  feel  that  the  message  is  for  him 
alone  or  for  a  selected  group  to  which  he  belongs.    He  therefore 
takes  a  greater  interest  in  it,  so  its  advocates  claim,  than  he  does 
in  general  advertising.     You  can  talk  to  him  in  a  letter,  for  in- 
stance, with  less  restraint  and  less  formality. 

187 


188  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

3.  It  is  Forcible. — Through  its  aid  you  can  marshal  an  army 
of  facts  in  such  a  way  as  to  carry  conviction.     You  are  able 
to  anticipate  the  objections  that  may  be  raised  and  answer  them 
beforehand,  thus  saving  time,  and  increasing  the  chances  of 
making  a  sale.     You  can  go  into  details  and  explanations  that 
would  be  impossible  in  other  forms  of  advertising. 

4.  It  is  Flexible. — Direct  advertising  may  be  employed  for 
many  different  purposes.     It  introduces  the  salesman  to  pro- 
spective customers  or  supplements  his  call.     It  arouses  interest, 
creates  good  will,  and  establishes  confidence.     It  directs  trade 
to  the  manufacturer,  to  the  jobber  or  to  the  retailer,  as  desired. 

5.  It  is  Timely. — It  can  be  used  to  meet  an  emergency.     For 
example,  a  manufacturer  or  wholesaler  finds  at  the  end  of  the 
season  that  he  has  on  hand  a  large  stock  of  a  certain  article  which, 
although  of  excellent  value,  has  not  moved  as  rapidly  as  it  should. 
By  sending  to  his  customers  a  letter  announcing  a  heavy  cut  in 
the  price  he  can  often  dispose  of  the  goods  in  a  few  days,  thus 
releasing  the  invested  capital  and  preventing  a  heavy  loss  that 
would  have  been  incurred  had  he  not  brought  advertising  to 
bear  upon  his  market. 

6.  It  is  Economical. — There  is  no  waste  circulation — every 
piece  of  copy  that  goes  out  can  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  definite 
person  who  may  become  a  buyer.     You  can  limit  or   expand 
your  field  of  operations  in  accordance  with  the  amount  of  money 
you  wish  to  invest  in  advertising. 

Mediums  Employed. — The  mediums  employed  in  direct  ad- 
vertising are  letters,  circulars,  folders,  mailing  cards,  broadsides, 
house-organs,  booklets,  catalogs,  blotters,  fillers  and  specialties. 
Because  advertising  matter  coming  under  this  head  is  usually 
distributed  through  the  postoffice  it  is  frequently  spoken  of  as 
mail  order  advertising.  This,  however,  is  incorrect. 

Mail  Order  Advertising  is  the  term  applied  to  advertising 
employed  to  sell  articles  by  mail  regardless  of  the  mediums 
used.  Millions  of  dollars  worth  of  mail  order  advertising  ap- 
pears in  national  publications. 

There  is  practically  no  limit  to  the  number  of  articles  that  can 
be  sold  by  mail.  This  is  shown  by  the  success  of  such  concerns 
as  Sears,  Roebuck  &  Company  and  Montgomery  Ward  &  Com- 


DIRECT  AND  MAIL  ORDER  ADVERTISING  189 

pany,  of  Chicago,  that  handle  hundreds  of  thousands  of  different 
kinds  of  merchandise,  ranging  from  pins  to  automobiles,  and 
from  spice  boxes  to  houses.  The  immensity  of  the  business 
carried  on  by  these  great  mail  order  concerns  is  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  in  1918  Sears,  Roebuck  &  Company  sold  $181,000,000 
worth  of  goods.  It  has  a  $6,000,000  plant,  carries  a  stock  of 
$6,000,000,  owns  40  factories,  makes  7,500  vehicles  a  year 
and  has  8,000  employees. 

Some  of  the  large  mail  order  houses  confine  their  sales  to  a  few 
lines  of  merchandise,  often  to  a  single  one.  The  National 
Cloak  &  Suit  Company,  of  New  York,  which  occupies  an  eleven- 
story  building  covering  one  end  of  a  city  block,  does  a  very  large 
business  in  women's  wearing  apparel.  The  Chicago  House 
Wrecking  Company  began  its  career  by  selling  the  building 
material  left  after  dismantling  the  Chicago  Exposition,  and  later, 
that  of  the  St.  Louis  World's  Fair.  Gradually  it  enlarged  its 
scope  until  it  now  handles  all  kinds  of  merchandise  obtained  from 
receivers'  and  sheriffs'  sales.  Through  advertising  it  has  devel- 
oped a  remarkable  business.  It  receives  50,000  letters  a  day 
and  employs  110  stenographers  to  take  care  of  its  correspondence. 
Its  daily  shipments  amount  to  from  20  to  25  carloads. 

The  mail  order  experts  assert  that  outside  of  the  half  dozen 
or  more  big  concerns  that  handle  all  lands  of  merchandise  the 
greatest  successes  have  been  achieved  by  those  dealing  in  goods 
listed  under  the  following  classifications:  medical  preparations, 
patented  articles,  specialties,  trust  schemes,  things  sold  on  the 
instalment  plan,  stock  corporations  and  correspondence  schools. 
The  best  advice  that  can  be  given  to  persons  who  wish  to  estab- 
lish a  profitable,  direct  mail  business  is  this — Get  hold  of  some- 
thing new,  a  household  novelty  preferred.  The  more  practically 
useful  the  article  is  the  better  its  chances  for  success  in  the 
market. 

Compiling  the  Mailing  List. — Having  selected  an  article  for 
which  it  is  believed  a  strong  demand  can  be  created  through 
direct  advertising  the  next  important  step  is  the  compilation  of  a 
mailing  list.  This  requires  careful  consideration  for  upon  it 
depends  to  a  large  degree  the  success  or  failure  of  the  enterprise. 
It  is  easy  enough  to  get  a  list  of  names  from  a  dozen  different 


190  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

sources  but  unless  they  are  the  names  of  persons  who  may  become 
interested  in,  and  possible  purchasers  of  the  article  you  are 
selling  it  is  worthless. 

The  important  thing  to  do  at  the  very  start,  therefore,  is  to 
decide  upon  the  class  of  people  with  whom  you  hope  to  do  busi- 
ness. Are  they  of  the  wealthy  class,  are  they  persons  of  moderate 
means  or  are  they  wage  earners  ?  Are  they  householders,  grocers 
or  drygoods  dealers?  Are  they  young  men,  widowers  or  bach- 
elors? Are  they  yachtsmen,  golfers  or  lovers  of  the  races? 

Assuming  that  the  article  to  be  marketed  appeals  to  farmers 
there  are  several  ways  of  compiling  the  mailing  list.  Upon 
application  to  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Agriculture  or  the 
Agricultural  Boards  of  the  several  states  lists  of  the  Granges, 
agricultural  associations  or  other  farmers'  organizations  may  be 
obtained.  By  writing  to  the  secretaries  and  offering  to  pay  a 
small  fee  for  copying,  if  they  are  not  printed,  lists  of  members 
may  be  secured.  States  and  country  directories  and  voting  lists 
are  also  helpful.  The  telephone  directories  are  especially  valua- 
ble in  selecting  the  better  class  of  farmers.  In  Canada  postmas- 
ters are  required  to  post  lists  of  mail  delivery  box  holders. 

If  you  want  to  reach  city  dwellers  you  can  buy  lists  of  names 
from  directory  publishers.  These  are  so  classified  that  you  can 
get  complete  lists  of  different  kinds  of  people,  such  as  advertising 
agents,  real  estate  owners,  persons  who  live  in  apartments,  etc. 
Manufacturers  of  goods  in  any  line  of  business  that  are  sold  to 
retailers  can  usually  obtain  the  names  of  dealers  in  these  several 
lines  of  goods  by  consulting  the  trade  papers  and  the  trade 
directories. 

Desirable  lists  of  names  are  sometimes  obtained  through  news- 
paper or  magazine  advertisements  in  which  a  booklet  or  other 
article  is  offered  to  anyone  sending  in  a  list  of  people  who  might 
become  interested  in  the  goods. 

Importance  of  Keeping  the  Mailing  List  Up-to-date. — After 
having  assembled  the  best  list  of  names  you  can  procure  it  must 
be  kept  up-to-date  or  its  value  is  soon  impaired.  It  has  been 
found  that  mailing  lists  deteriorate  at  the  rate  of  from  15  to 
35  per  cent,  annually  unless  measures  are  taken  to  prevent  it. 
This  is  due  to  deaths,  changes  in  address,  and  other  causes.  If, 


DIRECT  AND  MAIL  ORDER  ADVERTISING  191 

therefore,  the  mailing  list  is  not  corrected  at  least  once  a  month 
the  letters  or  catalogs  sent  to  some  of  the  names  will  not  be 
delivered  and  therefore  become  a  dead  loss.  It  costs  much  time 
and  considerable  money  to  keep  the  list  up-to-date  but  it  is 
well  worth  the  price.  Many  campaigns  have  failed  through  the 
use  of  poor  mailing  lists.  Hence  the  need  of  being  continually 
on  the  alert  to  make  them  100  per  cent,  efficient. 

The  number  of  names  carried  by  mail  order  houses  often 
reaches  into  millions.  Sears,  Roebuck  &  Company's  list  con- 
tains 7,000,000.  Some  of  the  insurance  companies  carry  from 
2,500,000  to  5,000,000.  The  Larkin  Company's  mailing  list 
contains  1,000,000  names  and  that  of  the  National  Cash  Register 
1,110,000.  Butler  Brothers  not  only  keep  a  large  clerical  force 
busy  on  their  big  mailing  list  the  year  round,  but  also  employ 
investigators  who  travel  over  the  country  checking  up  the  names 
and  seeing  that  their  catalogs  do  not  fall  into  improper  hands. 

Because  of  the  wide  variety  of  mediums  that  may  be  employed 
in  direct-by-mail  advertising  it  is  possible  to  select  one  or  more 
that  are  especially  adapted  to  the  class  of  people  you  want  to 
reach.  In  some  cases  letters  will  be  found  the  most  effective; 
in  others,  booklets  or  folders.  When  a  number  of  different 
things  are  to  be  marketed  catalogs  often  produce  the  best  results. 
Broadsides  and  bulletins  are  used  to  arouse  dealer  interest. 
Booklets  are  valuable  in  introducing  a  new  article  or  line  of 
goods  requiring  more  extended  description  than  can  be  given  in 
a  catalog.  Envelope  stuffers  are  advertisements  printed  on  thin 
colored  paper  which  may  be  slipped  into  an  envelope  containing  a 
letter  without  appreciably  adding  to  its  weight.  Book  publish- 
ers use  them  extensively. 

Mailing  cards,  which  have  been  called  "silent  salesmen," 
have  been  found  especially  effective  in  paving  the  way  for  sales- 
men in  new  territory.  The  outside  of  the  folded  cards  carries 
a  single  line  of  type  so  worded  as  to  excite  the  curiosity  of  the 
recipient  as  to  what  is  inside.  Sometimes  it  is  accompanied  by 
an  illustration  that  serves  to  heighten  his  interest.  A  par- 
ticularly good  example  of  this  type  was  a  card  so  folded  that  the 
two  ends  met  in  the  center  of  the  side  containing  the  address. 
Upon  it  was  printed  pictures  of  two  fierce-looking  pirates  standing 


192  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

on  guard  on  either  side  of  a  brass-bound  treasure  chest.  Across 
the  top  was  the  inscription  "There's  Treasure  Within."  In 
opening  up  the  card  the  lid  of  the  chest  was  lifted,  revealing  the 
advertiser's  message  attractively  set  forth  within. 

In  using  mailing  cards  it  is  well  to  confine  their  shapes  to 
conventional  forms,  except  in  rare  instances.  Odd-shaped 
cards,  and  particularly  those  that  are  intricately  folded,  often 
fail  of  their  purpose  for  the  reason  that  the  reader's  attention 
is  so  taken  up  with  their  novelty  of  form  that  he  overlooks  or 
fails  to  be  impressed  by  the  message  they  carry. 

The  backbone  of  the  advertising  of  the  great  mail  order  houses 
is  the  catalog.  Sears,  Roebuck  &  Company  issue  two  catalogs 
a  year,  each  containing  from  1,500  to  1,700  pages  and  weighing 
from  33^  to  5  Ib.  a  piece,  and  60  to  75  special  catalogs.  Six 
thousand  of  the  large  catalogs  will  fill  an  ordinary  freight  car. 
As  4,000,000  catalogs  are  printed  and  shipped  twice  a  year  to  the 
72  catalog  warehouses  from  which  they  are  distributed,  some 
idea  of  the  enormous  cost  entailed  can  be  obtained.  Elsewhere 
in  this  volume,  (see  p.  208),  will  be  found  a  chapter  devoted  to 
catalog  building. 

Object  of  Direct  Mail  Advertising. — Nearly  all  direct-by- 
mail  advertising  is  designed  to  produce  immediate  action.  If 
the  prospect  is  not  urged  to  respond  with  a  cash  order  he  is 
encouraged  to  send  for  a  booklet  with  an  attractive  title  giving 
additional  information,  or  to  ask  questions  direct  about  the  goods 
advertised.  The  richest  crop  of  business  is  often  developed  from 
these  requests  and  inquiries,  much  depending  upon  the  skill  of 
the  correspondence  clerks  in  handling  them. 

Advertisers  have  learned  the  value  of  the  follow-up  and  es- 
pecially those  who  are  engaged  in  the  mail  order  business. 
Homer  J.  Buckley,  of  Chicago,  once  said  that  he  used  to  pay 
little  attention  to  inquiries  written  on  cheap  paper  or  postal 
cards  on  the  assumption  that  the  persons  who  sent  them  couldn't 
amount  to  much  and  that  their  patronage  was  not  worth  seeking. 
One  day,  however,  he  wrote  a  three-page  reply  to  an  inquiry  of 
this  kind  and  found  that  the  writer  was  a  manufacturer  whose 
early  education  had  been  neglected.  The  correspondence  that 
followed  resulted  during  the  next  two  years  in  business  amounting 


DIRECT  AND  MAIL  ORDER  ADVERTISING  193 

to  $27,000,  not  a  penny  of  which  would  ever  have  gone  to  Mr. 
Buckley  had  he  not  answered  that  misspelled,  cheap-looking 
letter. 

Promptness  in  answering  inquiries  and  fitting  orders  that  are 
accompanied  by  cash  is  essential  in  direct-by-mail  advertising. 
Delays  from  whatever  cause  result  in  disappointment  and  are 
often  destructive  of  confidence.  It  is  a  standing  rule  with  the 
mail  order  houses  to  answer  all  letters  and  fill  all  orders  the  day 
they  are  received.  The  wisdom  of  such  a  rule  is  apparent.  The 
goods  are  promptly  received  by  the  customer  who  is  made  to  feel 
that  the  firm  values  his  patronage,  however  small  it  may  be. 
Moreover,  it  acts  as  a  stimulant  to  further  orders.  If  he  wants 
something  else  he  knows  he  can  get  it  without  delay.  While 
prompt  service  benefits  the  consumer  it  also  directly  benefits 
the  dealer  or  manufacturer  as  he  can  turn  over  his  capital  more 
rapidly.  The  customer  has  no  time  to  change  his  mind  and 
cancel  his  order. 

Some  Useful  Suggestions. — An  offer  to  send  small  samples 
inspires  confidence.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  make  a  nominal  charge 
for  them  as  it  serves  to  discourage  children  and  curiosity  seekers 
from  writing  for  samples.  Several  tests  that  have  been  made 
show  that  while  an  advertisement  offering  something  free  will 
pull  1,000  replies,  it  will  not  pull  200  when  a  2-cent  stamp  is 
required  for  the  postage.  If  a  person's  desire  for  a  sample  is 
not  strong  enough  to  induce  him  to  send  2  cents  or  any  other 
small  amount  for  it  his  patronage  is  not  worth  cultivating. 

Price  is  often  a  determining  factor  in  direct  advertising,  es- 
pecially when  the  privilege  of  returning  the  goods  is  not  allowed. 
People  want  to  know  what  an  article  costs  without  being  obliged 
to  write  to  the  advertiser  to  find  out. 

Sending  goods  on  approval  is  not  usually  satisfactory.  In  the 
mail  order  business  you  are  dealing  with  people  concerning  whose 
character  or  financial  responsibility  you  know  nothing.  It  is 
just  as  easy  for  a  thief  to  send  in  a  request  for  the  privilege  of 
inspecting  your  goods  as  for  the  honest  man.  The  one  never 
intends  either  to  buy  or  to  return  them;  the  other  will.  Not  all 
who  fail  to  pay  for  them  or  send  them  back  are  intentionally 
dishonest.  Some  are  careless  or  forgetful;  some  change  their 

13 


194  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

addresses  and  do  not  receive  the  letters  you  send  them  about  the 
matter;  some  delay  the  returning  of  the  articles  so  long  that 
they  are  ashamed  to  do  so,  seemingly  overlooking  the  fact  that 
by  this  act  they  lay  themselves  open  to  prosecution.  The 
expense  involved  in  following  up  those  who  neither  return  the 
goods  nor  pay  for  them  not  only  eats  up  the  profits  on  those 
actually  sold,  but  in  many  cases  drives  the  advertiser  who  has 
only  a  limited  capital  into  bankruptcy. 

Unless  the  article  that  is  being  marketed  is  a  novelty  that  can 
be  sold  for  only  a  short  time  while  it  is  popular,  the  constant  aim 
of  the  direct-by-mail  advertiser  should  be  to  obtain  re-orders. 
Except  in  the  case  of  articles  that  bring  a  comparatively  large 
price  there  is  little  net  profit  on  single  sales.  It  is  only  when 
customers  repeat — follow  up  their  first  by  other  orders — that  a 
remunerative  business  can  be  established. 

Questions 

1.  Define  direct  advertising. 

2.  In  the  case  of  seventeen  manufacturers  cited  what  was  the  average 
per  cent,  of  the  annual  appropriation  spent  for  direct  or  mail  advertising? 

3.  Name  six  advantages  to  be  derived  from  it. 

4.  What  are  the  principal  mediums  employed? 

5.  Give  the  names  of  three  of  the  largest  mail  order  houses. 

6.  What  kinds  of  goods  have  been  most  successfully  sold  by  mail? 

7.  How  would  you  go  about  securing  a  mailing  list? 

8.  What  is  the  annual  depreciation  in  the  value  of  a  mailing  list? 

9.  In  what  way  are  mailing  cards  helpful  to  salesmen? 

10.  What  is  the  chief  object  of  direct  advertising? 

11.  Why  should  a  small  charge  be  made  for  samples? 

12.  Should  goods  be  sent  on  approval?     Why  is  it  desirable  to  name 
prices  in  direct  advertising? 


CHAPTER  XVII 
BUSINESS  GETTING  LETTERS 

Letters  are  used  to  solicit  business,  to  promote  friendship,  to 
ask  favors  and  to  insist  upon  our  rights.  Of  all  the  advertising 
mediums  they  are  the  most  available  and  the  most  easily  em- 
ployed. A  sheet  of  paper,  and  a  pencil  or  pen  are  the  only 
things  necessary  for  the  production  of  a  letter.  No  business  is 
so  small  or  so  unimportant  that  it  cannot  afford  to  make  use  of 
this  form  of  advertising.  Letters  may  be  written  by  hand  in  the 
old-fashioned  way,  or  on  a  typewriter;  or  they  can  be  set  up  in 
type  and  printed  or  lithographed.  Copies  can  be  reproduced 
by  the  mimeograph,  multigraph,  Hooven,  Underwood  and  other 
mechanical  processes. 

The  following  suggestions  will  be  found  helpful  in  writing 
business  getting  letters: 

First. — Have  something  that  is  attractive  to  offer  to  your  pros- 
pective customer.  No  one  will  buy  an  article  for  which  he  has  no 
use,  no  matter  how  good  it  may  be  or  how  reasonable  its  price. 

Second. — Make  your  letter  personal  in  its  appeal.  Write  in 
much  the  same  way  you  would  talk  if  you  were  in  the  presence 
of  the  prospect.  Make  him  feel  that  you  recognize  his  standing 
in  the  community  and  want  his  cooperation  and  support. 

The  following  letter,  which  was  addressed  to  printers,  is  a 
good  example  of  the  personal  appeal  style  of  letter  writing. 

DEAR  SIR: 

"Ting-ailing,"  goes  your  telephone.  You  take  the  receiver 
off  its  hook,  put  it  to  your  ear,  and  presto! — there's  an  angry 
customer  sputtering  on  the  wire  wanting  to  know  why  the  printer's 
devil  you  haven't  delivered  his  job  at  the  hour  promised. 

That's  incident  number  one. 

Five  minutes  later,  in  walks  your  outside  man  with  an  animated 
countenance.  He  slaps  a  big  contract,  apparently  profitable,  on 
your  desk.  You  congratulate  him,  and  put  it  in  work.  But  your 

195 


196  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

press-room  is  only  equipped  for  your  usual  quota  of  job  work.  The 
large  order  is  a  bomb  scattering  confusion.  To  turn  it  out  other 
patrons  must  be  neglected;  the  bigger  the  contract,  the  longer  they 
must  wait. 

That's  incident  number  two. 

The  next  morning  two  of  your  feeders  are  among  the  missing. 
Perhaps  the  wanderlust  had  seized  one,  a  strong  thirst  the  other. 
Two  presses  remain  idle  that  day  and  the  rest  of  the  boys  work 
overtime  that  night.  The  crippled  force  crawls  through  the  week. 
In  the  meantime,  your  outside  man  is  in  despair  and  the  dawn 
editions  of  the  newspapers  carry  your  frantic  appeal  in  the  classified 
advertisement  columns  captioned  HELP  WANTED— MALE. 

That's  incident  number  three. 

It  never  rains  but  it  pours!  You  return  to  your  office  dis- 
couraged, and  learn  that  a  dissatisfied  customer  has  dumped  a 
5,000  lot  of  12-page  booklets  back  on  you:  "Solids  on  the  cover 
poorly  laid;  halftones  do  not  show  up  well;  rotten  impression; 
poor  inks;  badly  soiled  by  finger  prints;  the  stuff  was  promised  days 
ago  and  it  is  too  late  to  use  now."  Well,  it  was  really  a  cylinder 
proposition  but  you  had  figured  low  because  you  could  not  afford 
the  expense  of  extra  plates.  You  solemnly  mark  the  transaction 
down  on  the  "We  mourn  our  loss"  side  of  the  ledger. 

That's  incident  number  four. 

And  then  comes  the  postman  with  this  letter.  It  deals  with  your 
troubles  one  by  one.  Now  it  tells  you  that  the  AUTOPRESS  van- 
quishes them  all.  This  is  what  the  AUTOPRESS  does: 

Insures  quick  deliveries  and  pleased  customers; 

Turns  big  contract  emergencies  into  a  mere  incident  in  the  day's 
work; 

Rises  above  feeder  frailties;  always  stays  on  the  job; 

Splits  hairs  in  register;  lays  solids  of  intense  density;  reproduces 
the  artist's  proof  in  halftone  work;  runs  at  a  guaranteed  speed  of 
5,000  impressions  an  hour;  gives  the  quietus  to  three  or  four  platens 
and  their  attendants. 

SUMMARY:  The  AUTOPRESS  produces  more  and  better  out- 
put in  quicker  time,  at  lesser  cost. 

Of  course,  The  Autopress  Company  want  to  sell  you  an  AUTO- 
PRESS. It  is  not  what  they  want  but  what  you  must  have. 
Your  business  problems  combine  in  a  Gordian  knot,  hard  to  undo. 
Don't  try.  Cut  it  with  a  bold  stroke — a  keen  investment — the 
purchase  of  an  AUTOPRESS. 

Third. — Adapt  the  length  of  the  letter  to  the  nature  of  the  appeal 
and  the  character  of  the  audience.  While  there  can  be  no  hard 
and  fast  rule  in  regard  to  the  length  of  letters,  in  the  majority 


BUSINESS  GETTING  LETTERS  197 

of  cases  single-page  letters  will  best  serve  the  advertiser.  The 
head  of  one  of  Chicago's  largest  letter-writing  agencies  says  that 
out  of  5,000  letters  he  has  written  only  five  were  two  pages  long. 
And  yet  there  are  tunes  when  short  letters  are  inadequate.  If 
you  were  trying  to  interest  a  man  in  an  important  business  enter- 
prise, or  you  wanted  to  sell  him  an  automobile  or  a  country 
estate,  a  two-  or  three-page  letter  would  be  required  to  properly 
present  the  information  he  would  need  in  order  to  decide  upon 
the  merits  of  the  proposition.  When  a  person  is  deeply  interested 
in  a  subject  he  will  read  every  line  of  a  long  letter  providing  the 
facts  are  attractively  set  forth. 

Some  of  the  occasions  when  long  letters  can  be  employed  to 
advantage  are  these: 

1.  When  writing  to  a  woman,  and  especially  a  housewife  about 
an  article  that  will  make  her  family  happier,  her  home  more 
cheerful,  her  children  prettier  and  herself  more  beautiful,  the 
paper  used  should  be  a  delicately  tinted  bond,  of  good  quality, 
and  the  envelope  of  baronial  size,  the  aim  being  to  give  the  letter 
an  air  of  refinement.     Women  do  not  receive  as  many  business 
communications  as  men  and  therefore  attach  much  importance 
to  those  addressed  to  them. 

2.  When  answering  letters  requesting  information  regarding  your 
proposition.     If  a  person  is  sufficiently  interested  to  ask  for 
further  data  he  will  read  all  you  write  in  reply.     Go  into  details. 
Tell  him  exactly  what  you  would  want  to  know  if  you  were  in  his 
place.     If  you  have  any  printed  matter  that  is  pertinent  to  the 
subject  send  that  along  too. 

The  mistake  of  mailing  advertising  matter  under  separate 
cover  when  sending  a  letter  of  this  kind  has  resulted  in  the 
loss  of  much  business.  Although  mailed  at  the  same  tune,  the 
letter,  because  it  travels  under  first-class  postage  usually 
reaches  its  destination  first.  Any  interest  it  may  create  in  the 
reader's  mind  is  apt  to  die  out  because  of  the  delay  in  receiv- 
ing the  supplementary  literature  to  which  the  letter  refers.  This 
situation  can  be  prevented  by  the  employment  of  a  new 
envelope  device  which  permits  the  letter  and  advertising 
matter  to  travel  together  but  each  under  its  own  mail  classi- 
fication. 


198  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

3.  When  writing  to  a  customer  who  has  purchased  your  product 
to  tell  him  how  he  can  get  the  most  out  of  it.     People  are  usually 
grateful  for  any  suggestions  that  will  help  them  to  secure  better 
results  from  an  article  they  already  possess  or  adapt  it  to  new 
uses. 

4.  When  you  have  important  facts  to  tell  a  man  about  his  own 
business.    Distributors  of  merchandise  have  found  that  one  of 
the  best  ways  to  hold  customers  is  to  show  them  how  to  sell 
their  products,  how  to  increase  their  revenues  by  the  adoption 
of  new  methods  of  salesmanship  or  a  different  arrangement  of 
the  goods  displayed  in  the  store,  or  to  call  their  attention  to  a 
new  and  more  economical  plan  of  store  management.     The 
merchant  is  made  to  feel  that  the  manufacturer  or  wholesaler  is 
interested  in  his  success  apart  from  the  quantity  of  goods  he 
purchases.    Letters  bearing  upon  these  and  other  subjects  will 
always  be  read  no  matter  how  long  they  may  be. 

Short  letters  may  be  used  to  advantage  under  these  circum- 
stances: 

1.  When  you  have  a  real  bargain  to  offer  and  you  do  not  need  to 
go  into  details  regarding  it.     If  you  say  too  much  the  prospect 
may  think  you  are  trying  to  bamboozle  him  or  cover  up  a  defect 
in  the  merchandise. 

2.  When   asking  for   an   appointment   to   show  your  goods. 
Arguments  and  explanations  in  behalf  of  your  line  are  unneces- 
sary.    If  you  state  them  in  your  letters  the  buyer  may  say, 
"  What's  the  use  of  telling  me  all  this  stuff  in  a  letter  and  then 
asking  for  an  interview  to  go  over  the  same  ground  again?" 
Therefore,  your  letter  should  be  confined  to  a  bare  statement  of 
what  you  have  to  offer  and  the  request  for  an  interview.     If  he 
is  not  interested  in  your  line  of  merchandise  he  will  turn  you 
down  anyway. 

3.  When  sending  a  catalog,  or  acknowledging  a  remittance  or 
the  receipt  of  an  order. 

4.  When   answering   an   inquiry  for  confidential  information 
about  a  man's  credit,  regarding  which  you  have  little  or  no  positive 
knowledge. 

Much  care  should  be  taken  in  the  preparation  of  follow-up 
letters,  which  are  an  important  part  of  every  advertising  cam- 


BUSINESS  GETTING  LETTERS  199 

paign,  no  matter  what  mediums  are  used.  They  may  be  insistent 
without  giving  offense.  In  any  case  they  should  be  diplomatic. 
Don't  "demand"  an  answer  to  sales  letters.  Because  you  have 
written  several  to  a  merchant,  especially  when  he  is  not  a  customer, 
is  no  reason  why  he  should  acknowledge  their  receipt  unless  he 
has  previously  asked  for  information.  Merchants  in  the  smaller 
cities  are  not  given  to  much  letter  writing  and  object  to  any 
attempt  to  force  replies  from  them. 

Fourth. — Make  your  business  letters  cumulative  in  interest  and 
in  sales  pulling  power.  The  first  blow  of  a  sledge  hammer  upon 
a  big  rock  seems  to  make  little  impression  upon  it,  but  if  the  blows 
are  continued  for  any  length  of  time  the  rock  is  finally  split  open. 
It  is  the  accumulative  force  of  all  the  blows  that  accomplishes 
the  result.  Similarly  under  the  constantly  applied  influence  of 
a  series  of  well-constructed,  forceful  letters  the  indifference  of  the 
prospect  is  gradually  overcome,  his  interest  is  aroused  and  he  is 
won  over  to  the  proposition. 

(a)  Endeavor  to  form  a  picture  in  your  mind's  eye  of  the  man 
you  are  addressing.  (6)  Try  to  appreciate  the  local  conditions 
under  which  he  works  or  conducts  his  business,  (c)  Try  to  get  a 
fairly  accurate  idea  of  his  likes  and  dislikes  which,  in  many 
instances,  may  be  determined  from  his  environment,  (d)  Re- 
member that  there  is  no  man,  no  matter  who  he  is  or  where  he 
lives,  who  is  not  susceptible  to  the  right  appeal,  (e)  When  you 
have  finished  your  study  of  the  prospect  and  his  local  surround- 
ings talk  to  him  sensibly,  as  man  to  man.  Be  sincere,  friendly, 
but  not  too  familiar. 

There  is  no  hard  and  fast  rule  for  building  a  sales  letter. 
Different  men  have  different  ideas  as  to  how  it  should  be  done. 
Nevertheless  a  careful  study  of  a  number  of  successful  letters 
shows  that  a  certain  plan  is  consciously  or  unconsciously  followed. 
Edward  H.  Schulze,  a  New  York  authority  on  business  letter 
writing,  after  examining  many  letters  of  this  kind  deduced  the 
following  paragraph  arrangement  for  a  winning  letter. 

First  Paragraph. — Attention  getting  opening.  Creating  the 
right  atmosphere. 

Second  Paragraph. — Continuation  of  first  paragraph.  Show 
prospect  what  your  product  will  do  for  him  rather  than  what  it  is. 


200  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Third  Paragraph. — Description  of  your  product  as  the  buyer  or 
user  would  describe  it. 

Fourth  Paragraph. — Argument  in  favor  of  the  product  to  be 
sold,  not  a  description. 

Fifth  Paragraph. — Proposition.  Attractively  worded  answer 
to  the  question,  "Why  should  the  prospect  buy  of  you  now?" 

Closing  Paragraph. 

There  is  a  wide  difference  between  a  newspaper  or  a  mag- 
azine advertisement  and  a  personal  letter.  In  the  former  the 
message  is  addressed  to  the  general  public,  in  the  latter  to 
an  individual  member  of  that  public.  In  the  one  case  we  talk 
to  a  few  hundred  or  many  thousands  or  millions  of  people  the 
country  over;  in  the  second  we  take  each  man  or  woman  aside  and 
tell  our  story  in  the  direct,  personal  way  we  speak  to  our  friends. 

Therefore,  a  good  letter  writer  must  be  a  student  of  and  under- 
stand human  nature.  He  must  know  how  to  appeal  to  the  differ- 
ent types  and  classes  of  people.  He  must  have  an  easy  flow  of 
correct  English.  This  implies,  of  course,  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  grammar  and  punctuation.  He  should  so  master  the  details 
of  letter  writing  that  each  letter  of  a  series  he  prepares  will  per- 
form its  own  office  and  add  strength  to  the  entire  campaign. 
He  should  keep  track  of  the  letters  sent  out  and  the  results  that 
follow  by  means  of  a  card  index.  Such  a  record  if  carefully  filed 
and  studied  will  save  thousands  of  dollars  annually  to  the  direct 
mail  advertiser. 

Fifth. — Business  selling  letters  should  be  correct  in  form  and 
printed  on  good  quality  of  bond  paper  if  they  are  to  impress  the 
prospect  with  the  dignity  and  responsibility  of  the  company  or 
firm  that  sends  them  out.  People  are  apt  to  judge  of  the  charac- 
ter of  a  concern  by  its  stationery,  just  as  we  are  inclined  to  judge 
of  a  man's  character  by  his  dress.  Swindlers  take  advantage  of 
this  fact  and  invariably  employ  expensive  stationery  in  all  their 
correspondence  with  persons  whom  they  are  trying  to  induce 
to  invest  in  their  schemes. 

Sixth. — Letters  should  be  properly  folded,  sealed  and  stamped.  A 
carelessly  folded  letter  with  the  stamp  stuck  on  any  old  way  and 
the  address  poorly  written  or  misspelled  creates  an  unfavorable 
impression  no  matter  how  fine  the  quality  of  the  stationery,  or 


BUSINESS  GETTING  LETTERS  201 

how  excellent  the  typography,  or  how  important  its  contents. 
The  man  who  receives  such  a  letter  feels  affronted  that  the  sender 
did  not  regard  him  of  sufficient  importance  to  see  that  the  mailing 
was  properly  done. 

The  most  glaring  evils  of  the  usual  type  of  circular  letters  are 
the  use  of  cheap  stationery,  the  absence  of  the  names  of  the  per- 
sons who  are  supposed  to  receive  them,  the  misspelling  of  names, 
the  omission  of  a  hand-written  signature,  failure  to  fold  letters 
neatly  and  to  affix  stamps  properly,  and,  finally,  neglect  to  affix 
sufficient  postage. 

If  you  want  to  get  a  merchant's  attention  talk  about  his 
business  and  show  him  how  you  can  help  him  make  or  save 
money.  Make  it  a  "you"  letter  instead  of  an  "I"  letter.  He 
is  not  going  to  buy  your  goods  to  benefit  you,  but  himself.  What 
you  have  got  to  do  is  to  convince  him  that  he  can  increase  his 
income  and  add  to  his  prestige  in  the  community  by  selling  your 
product.  The  primary  object  of  most  sales  letters  addressed  to 
the  trade  is  not  so  much  to  create  immediate  sales  as  to  elicit 
replies  for  further  information,  or  to  pave  the  way  for  the  sales- 
men when  they  make  their  calls. 

The  narrative  form  of  writing  is  popular  with  business  men. 
They  like  a  clear  presentation  of  facts  with  as  little  fancy  trim- 
ming in  the  shape  of  decorative  language  as  is  consistent  with 
the  subject.  If  you  can  arouse  their  curiosity  at  the  start  by  a 
statement  that  is  new  or  novel  you  have  a  good  chance  of  holding 
their  attention  to  the  end  of  the  letter.  Don't  tell  everything 
about  your  product  in  one  or  two  letters.  Say  enough  to  make 
the  reader  hungry  for  more  information.  Leave  something  to 
the  imagination. 

Cultivate  conciseness  in  your  letter  writing.  Think  out  what 
you  are  going  to  say  before  you  write  it  down.  A  rambling, 
pointless  letter  is  an  abomination  to  be  shunned.  Learn  to  use 
words  that  exactly  express  your  meaning  and  that  the  average 
man  or  woman  can  readily  understand.  The  merchant  who 
receives  a  letter  written  in  "highbrow"  language,  which  may 
be  Greek  to  him,  is  not  going  to  expose  his  ignorance  by  ask- 
ing one  of  his  office  assistants  to  explain  its  meaning. 

Get  away  from  stereotyped  expressions  such  as  "  In  reply  to  your 


202  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

favor  of  the — the  contents  of  which  have  been  carefully  noted, " 
"  We  beg  to  inform  you, "  etc.  You  wouldn't  use  such  phrases  if 
you  were  writing  to  a  friend  because  they  would  make  your 
letter  so  deadly  dull  and  formal.  Why,  then,  use  them  in  your 
correspondence  with  business  men  whose  good  will  and  favor  you 
are  trying  to  cultivate? 

Business  letters  are  employed  for  other  purposes  than  the  selling 
of  merchandise.  The  sales  correspondent  of  a  wholesale  grocery 
house,  in  looking  over  some  old  ledgers,  was  surprised  to  see  on 
their  pages  the  names  of  so  many  firms  who  were  no  longer 
customers  of  the  house.  He  made  a  list  of  them  and  after 
crossing  off  those  that  had  gone  out  of  business,  and  checking 
up  the  others  through  Dun's  or  Bradstreet's,  he  wrote  them  a 
diplomatic  letter  asking  why  they  had  dropped  out.  Eighty 
per  cent,  replied,  and  of  these  a  majority  were  induced  to  resume 
their  old  relationship  to  the  house.  At  the  end  of  three  years  it 
was  found  that  these  merchants  had  purchased  more  than  a 
million  dollars  worth  of  goods. 

Little  things  sometimes  nullify  the  effect  of  carefully  prepared 
letters.  A  strong  letter  sent  to  Catholics  to  arouse  their  interest 
in  and  secure  their  support  for  a  Church  publication  brought 
back  only  one  per  cent,  of  returns.  This  was  such  a  poor  record 
that  an  investigation  was  made  to  see  where  the  trouble  lay.  It 
was  found  that  the  letters  had  been  posted  at  the  Masonic 
Building  branch  office  of  the  post  office,  and  were  so  stamped. 
Most  Catholics  are  strongly  opposed  to  Masonic  and  all  other 
secret  societies  and  when  those  to  whom  the  letters  were  sent  saw 
that  they  were  stamped  "Masonic  Building"  their  antipathy  was 
at  once  aroused.  When  the  publishers  changed  their  mailing 
station  the  returns  from  their  letters  immediately  increased. 

'A  manufacturer  of  toilet  articles  that  are  sold  by  mail,  whose 
factory  and  office  were  located  near  the  Chicago  Stock  Yards, 
wondered  for  a  long  time  why  his  mail  matter  did  not  pull  better. 
A  shrewd  advertiser  told  him  to  mail  his  letters  and  circulars  from 
a  postal  sub-station  in  a  more  attractive  neighborhood  and  see 
what  would  happen.  He  did  so  and  was  surprised  to  note  how 
quickly  his  business  began  to  improve. 

The  business  letter  writer  must  be  ever  on  the  alert  to  take 


BUSINESS  GETTING  LETTERS  203 

advantage  of  changing  events  in  the  commercial  world.  Giving 
a  news  twist  to  correspondence  helps  to  arouse  the  prospects 
interest. 

How  many  follow-up  letters  should  be  sent  to  the  same  person 
or  firm?  The  number  of  follow-ups  depends  on  the  profit 
that  lies  in  the  sale  if  it  is  secured.  This  does  not  mean  the 
profits  on  the  first  order,  if  there  are  chances  for  repeat  busi- 
ness, but  the  profits  the  sender  of  the  letter  might  ultimately 
expect  from  the  account.  Thus,  in  selling  machinery  running 
into  the  hundreds  or  thousands  of  dollars,  it  is  obvious  that 
if  one  sent  a  letter  every  week  for  a  year  (52  weeks  at  2  cents 
postage  per  week  is  $1.04)  the  amount  thus  expended  would  be 
small  when  the  profits  on  a  possible  sale  are  considered.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  selling  a  $2  article,  upon  which  there  is  no 
chance  to  get  repeat  orders,  it  would  not  pay  to  send  more  than 
two  letters  or  perhaps  three,  as  the  amount  of  money  allowed  for 
selling  is  proportionally  smaller.  It  is  best  to  consider  the 
number  of  follow-ups  in  relation  to  how  much  one  can  afford  to 
spend  to  get  a  sale. 

Here  is  a  follow-up  letter  that  brought  replies  from  a  large 
proportion  of  the  firms  to  which  it  was  addressed : 

DEAR  SIB: 

Twenty  minutes  past  two. 

In  half  an  hour,  the  afternoon  mail  will  be  in.  I'm  sitting 
here  waiting  for  an  envelope  with  your  name  in  the  upper  left- 
hand  corner. 

An  answer  to  my  letter  of  November  23d. 

That  letter  went  to  a  great  many  Meat  Packers.  And  a  great 
many  letters  have  come  in  return.  Most  all  of  them  containing 
Keepdry  Barrel  Cover  orders  for  trial. 

One  arrived  yesterday  from  the  Morton-Gregson  Co.  Quite 
prominent  in  the  meat  industry.  They  think  Keepdry  Covers  are 
worth  a  trial,  so  they're  going  to  try  them. 

And  now  there  are  25.     Let's  name  a  few  of  them : 

Armour,  Agar,  Buckley,  Ballard,  Cudahy,  Dunlevy,  Hammond- 
Standish,  Hormel,  Kalbitzer,  Kingan,  Lima,  Oscar  F.  Mayer, 
Swift  and  Underwood. 

Pretty  soon  Morton-Gregson  will  say  to  ship  some  more  Keepdry 
Covers.  At  any  rate  that's  what  has  happened  with  all  the  others 
— after  they  have  tested  out  a  few. 


204  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

I  wonder  if  that  mail  will  bring  your  trial  order.  If  not  I  am 
going  to  shoot  this  little  reminder  along  to-night — just  so  that  you 
will  know  that  I  sat  here  waiting.  But  it  isn't  too  late  yet. 

Concerning  Form  Letters. — Every  concern  doing  a  fairly  large 
national  business  receives  every  day  many  letters  on  the  same 
subjects  and  which  require  the  same  replies.  It  is  obviously  a 
waste  of  time  to  dictate  or  write  over  and  over  again  differently 
worded  answers  to  the  same  questions,  or  replies  to  the  same 
complaints. 

Hence  the  economy  and  convenience  of  form  letters.  These 
should  not  be  dictated  right  off  the  reel  as  a  part  of  the  day's 
work,  but  should  be  the  result  of  a  close  study  of  the  firm's 
correspondence  extending  over  several  months.  If  you  will  look 
over  fifty  or  a  hundred  letters  that  have  been  written  on  the 
same  subject  you  will  find  some  of  them  much  better  than  others. 
In  one  you  discover  a  paragraph  in  which  the  idea  is  set  forth 
in  an  exceptionally  strong  and  clear  manner.  In  another  you 
observe  a  phrase  or  a  paragraph  that  strikes  you  as  specially 
clever.  One  letter  has  an  introduction  that  is  out  of  the  ordinary 
and  rivets  attention.  You  admire  the  wind-up  of  a  fourth 
letter,  or  the  convincing  way  in  which  a  complaint  is  answered 
in  a  fifth. 

By  combining  these  or  other  paragraphs  you  produce  a  letter 
that  covers  the  subject  in  a  thorough  and  satisfactory  manner  and 
can  adopt  it  as  one  of  your  form  letters.  By  listing  a  number  of 
the  paragraphs  on  a  sheet  and  giving  to  each  a  number  you  can 
use  one  or  several  in  dictating  other  letters  by  simply  giving  the 
numbers  to  the  stenographer.  Pursue  this  same  course  in 
preparing  form  letters  on  other  subjects.  With  these  letters 
in  hand  routine  correspondence  can  be  quickly  disposed  of  by  the 
office  staff  at  minimum  cost  and  maximum  efficiency. 

In  mailing  circular  letters  should  1-  or  2-cent  stamps  be  used? 
Here  again  no  categorical  answer  can  be  given.  The  A.  W. 
Shaw  Company,  of  Chicago,  publishers  of  business  books, 
state  that  they  have  secured  as  many  responses  when  letters 
bore  1-cent  stamps  as  when  2-cent  stamps  were  used.  Much 
depends  upon  the  nature  of  the  offering  and  the  class  of  people 
to  whom  the  letters  are  addressed.  When  letters  are  sent  to 


BUSINESS  GETTING  LETTERS  205 

prospects  in  rural  districts,  or  elsewhere,  who  are  not  accustomed 
to  receive  much  mail  matter,  a  1-cent  stamp  can  be  used. 

But  when,  on  the  other  hand,  your  letters  are  mailed  to  persons 
or  firms  who  receive  a  large  amount  of  advertising  matter  and 
many  letters  every  day,  your  communications  have  a  much  better 
chance  of  being  read  if  they  bear  a  2-cent  stamp.  Why? 
Because,  in  sorting  the  mail  the  clerks  are  usually  instructed  to 
separate  the  first-class  from  the  second-class  matter.  The  first- 
class  mail  has  the  right  of  way  and  receives  the  direct  personal 
attention  of  the  executives,  while  the  second-class  matter  is 
referred  to  one  of  the  office  staff  for  examination,  in  which  case 
it  often  happens  that  circular  letters  never  reach  the  important 
heads  of  the  business  but  are  dumped  into  the  waste  basket 
unread.  Of  course,  the  2-cent  stamp  will  not  insure  the  de- 
livery of  your  letter  into  the  hands  of  the  person  for  whom  it  is 
intended,  but  you  may  be  reasonably  certain  that  it  will,  in  most 
instances,  accomplish  that  purpose. 

On  the  Use  of  Window  Envelopes. — Considerable  expense  can 
be  saved  in  mailing  large  editions  of  circular  letters  by  the  em- 
ployment of  window  envelopes.  It  costs  from  $2.75  to  $3.00  a 
thousand  to  address  envelopes  on  the  typewriter.  This  expense 
can  be  eliminated  if  the  letters  are  so  folded  that  when  enclosed 
in  the  window  envelopes  the  filled-in  address  at  the  top  of  the  first 
sheet  shows  through  as  the  mailing  address.  If,  however,  you 
have  a  high-grade  proposition  to  submit  to  a  select  list  of  out  of 
the  ordinary  prospects,  typewritten  addressed  envelopes  would 
be  more  appropriate  and  make  a  better  impression. 

Return  Postage. — When  you  enclose  a  post  card  for  a  reply  it 
is  not  necessary  to  use  a  stamped  card  unless  you  are  writing  to 
a  customer,  or  asking  a  favor  as,  for  instance,  for  the  names  of 
friends  or  acquaintances  who  might  be  interested  in  your  offering. 
A  Wisconsin  concern  in  order  to  determine  the  value  of  furnishing 
stamped  return  postal  cards  mailed  3,000  letters  enclosing  them. 
Six  hundred  came  back.  As  2,400  were  not  used  those  returned 
cost  5  cents  apiece  in  addition  to  the  other  mailing  cost.  A 
second  lot  of  3,000  letters  were  mailed  in  which  the  cards  enclosed 
were  not  stamped.  Of  the  latter  526  were  returned.  As  no 
postage  was  paid  on  these  cards  the  firm  saved  $10  on  each  thou- 


206  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

sand  sent  out.  It  is  the  opinion  of  most  mail  order  houses  that 
the  man  who  is  sufficiently  interested  to  furnish  a  stamp  for  an 
enclosed  card  asking  for  particulars  is  a  much  better  prospect 
than  the  one  who  replies  only  when  a  stamped  card  is  furnished 
by  the  advertiser. 

On  the  Use  of  Enclosures. — In  sending  out  business  getting 
letters,  whatever  their  character  may  be,  do  not  enclose  several 
pieces  of  advertising  matter  for  they  have  little  chance  of  being 
read.  It  is  a  much  better  practice  to  use  one  piece  at  a  time. 
When  a  business  man  receives  an  envelope  stuffed  to  the  limit 
with  advertising  leaflets,  poorly  printed,  on  cheap,  thin  paper, 
he  is  likely  to  throw  the  contents  into  the  waste  basket  without 
reading,  on  the  ground  that  no  responsible  concern  doing  a  pros- 
perous business  would  send  out  such  a  mess  of  junk  to  a  pros- 
pective customer.  One  concern  that  tested  the  value  of  various 
enclosures  found  that  the  fewer  the  enclosures  the  greater  the 
attention  given  to  the  letter,  the  best  results  being  obtained  when 
a  well-printed  booklet,  giving  the  history  of  the  product  was 
the  only  enclosure. 

Signatures. — All  circulars,  form,  or  other  letters  should  carry 
a  personal  signature.  If  sent  out  by  a  company,  the  name  of  the 
president  or  some  other  executive  should  appear  below  that  of 
the  company,  the  reason  being  that  the  person  who  receives 
such  a  letter  will  attach  much  more  importance  to  it  than  he 
would  if  it  only  bore  the  company  name.  To  many  people  a 
corporation  is  an  intangible,  soulless  body  with  which  it  is 
impossible  to  establish  an  intimate  relationship.  If,  however, 
these  same  persons  are  brought  in  contact,  through  correspond- 
ence or  otherwise,  with  its  president  or  someone  else  in  authority, 
they  will  have  an  entirely  different  idea  regarding  it.  To  them 
the  president  or  other  official  is  the  company  and  can  be  dealt 
with  as  a  person.  When  they  receive  circular  or  other  letters 
from  an  executive  of  such  a  corporation  they  are  impressed  by 
the  fact  and  their  interest  is  aroused. 

In  the  production  of  facsimile  letters  in  quantities  the  signa- 
ture is  printed  with  the  letter,  and,  when  the  work  is  well  done, 
it  cannot  be  distinguished  from  the  hand  signature  of  the  writer. 
In  instances  where  the  letters  are  of  more  than  ordinary  importance 


BUSINESS  GETTING  LETTERS  207 

the  letters  should  be  signed  by  hand  and  the  name  typewritten 
underneath  in  case  the  signature  is  difficult  to  read. 


Questions 

1.  In  writing  business-getting  letters  what  are  some  of  the  things  to  be 
kept  in  mind? 

2.  Under  what  circumstances  can  long  letters  be  employed  to  advantage? 

3.  When  is  it  advisable  to  use  short  letters? 

4.  Before  writing  a  letter  what  should  you  do? 

6.  Give  Mr.  Schulze's  plan  for  writing  a  business  getting  letter. 

6.  What  are  the  qualifications  of  a  good  letter  writer? 

7.  Why  should  special  care  be  taken  in  the  selection  of  stationery? 

8.  What  are  some  of  the  glaring  evils  of  circular  letters? 

9.  How  can  you  quickly  get  a  merchant's  attention? 

10.  What  form  of  letter  writing  is  popular  with  business  men? 

11.  Give  several  stereotyped  phrases  that  should  be  avoided. 

12.  When  should  follow-up  letters  be  discontinued? 

13.  What  suggestions  can  you  make  concerning  the  preparation  of  form 
letters? 

14.  In  mailing  circular  letters  should  1-  or  2-cent  stamps  be  used? 

16.  When  are  window  envelopes  to  be  preferred  over  the  ordinary  kind? 
16.  When  should  return  postage  be  enclosed  if  replies  are  desired? 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
SUGGESTIONS  ON  CATALOG  MAKING 

The  most  important  mediums  employed  in  direct  advertising 
are  letters,  folders,  booklets  and  catalogs.  They  are  the  back- 
bone of  practically  all  mail  order  advertising  campaigns  and  a 
vital  necessity  in  the  marketing  campaigns  of  general  and  tech- 
nical advertisers.  Of  these  catalogs  are  depended  upon  for  the 
heavy  work.  They  are  used  to  back  up  newspaper  and  maga- 
zine advertising;  to  obtain  new  customers  and  to  hold  those  who 
have  already  been  lined  up;  to  pave  the  way  for  the  visits  of 
salesmen,  and  to  secure  direct  orders  from  places  to  which  it  is 
not  feasible  or  possible  to  send  salesmen.  Through  catalogs  the 
manufacturer  can  present  information  that  cannot  be  presented 
in  newspaper  or  magazine  advertising. 

Charles  W.  Beaver,  in  speaking  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
catalog,  says: 

"The  catalog  must  be  your  personal  representative,  duly  accredited, 
backed  by  your  word,  vested  with  the  authority  of  knowledge,  and 
lacking  none  of  the  polish  essential  to  the  most  profound  courtesy. 
Lacking  the  magnetism  of  the  human  voice  its  cold  type  must  be  in- 
fused with  a  message  so  true,  and  its  every  page  so  suggestive  of  uses  and 
applications  that  the  prospect  is  made  to  see  each  article  as  his  own." 

The  fact  that  a  large  amount  of  money  is  wasted  annually  upon 
catalogs  and  booklets  that  are  thrown  away  unread  because  they 
are  unattractive,  or  have  no  real  selling  value,  shows  how  necessary 
it  is  that  we  should  know  how  to  prepare  the  kind  that  will  market 
the  goods  at  a  profit  to  the  advertiser.  The  contents  of  the  waste- 
paper  basket  of  the  average  busy  executive  ought  to  be  a  con- 
tinual warning  to  every  advertisement  writer  if  he  would  save 
his  own  work  from  a  like  fate. 

A  Catalog  in  Physical  Appearance  and  in  Text  Matter  Should 
Reflect  the  Character  of  the  Firm  by  Which  It  Is  Issued. — Much 

208 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  CATALOG  MAKING  209 

depends  upon  the  first  impression  it  makes  upon  the  prospect  when 
he  opens  the  envelope  containing  it.  If  it  has  an  attractive  cover, 
is  printed  on  good  paper,  is  appropriately  illustrated  and  contains 
information  of  value  to  the  recipient,  it  will  receive  the  attention 
it  merits  and  will  be  kept  for  future  reference. 

No  business  house  of  standing  would  think  of  sending  out  on 
the  road  a  salesman  who  is  slovenly  in  dress,  boorish  in  bearing, 
and  cannot  talk  to  a  customer  in  an  intelligent  manner.  The 
salesman,  when  he  calls  upon  a  merchant,  is,  for  the  time  being, 
the  house  he  represents.  If  the  impression  he  makes  is  favorable 
the  firm  back  home  profits  by  it;  if  it  is  unfavorable  the  reputation 
of  the  house  suffers. 

Catalogs  Are  Silent  Salesmen,  Deputy  Ambassadors  of  Busi- 
ness, Sent  Out  to  Promote  Sales. — Like  salesmen  they  must  have 
a  certain  personality  to  win  attention  and  favor.  They  should 
have  an  inviting,  prosperous  look  that  will  make  the  recipient 
want  to  study  them  carefully.  They  should  present  facts  about 
the  merchandise  offered  in  such  a  clear,  straightforward  way 
that  they  will  gain  the  reader's  interest  and  confidence  and  induce 
him  to  send  in  his  order. 

The  three  kinds  of  commercial  catalogs : 

1.  The  mail  order  catalog,  designed  to  reach  the  consumer,  is 
abundantly  illustrated,  contains  full  descriptions  of  the  articles 
offered,  numbering  in  some  cases  150,000,  quotes  lowest  prices, 
and  gives  full  directions  for  ordering  and  paying  for  the  goods. 

2.  The  wholesaler  or  jobber  catalog,  which  is  sent  out  by  the 
manufacturer,  is  confined  to  brief  descriptions  of  the  goods,  a 
list  of  sizes  and  prices,  and  the  terms  under  which  they  are  sold. 

3.  The  retailer  catalog,  also  distributed  by  the  manufacturer, 
and  frequently  by  the  wholesaler,  contains,  in  addition  to  much 
of  the  information  presented  in  the  wholesaler's  catalog,  a  list 
of   selling   points  or  arguments  showing  the  superiority  of  his 
goods  over  those  offered  by  competitors;  statements  regarding  the 
profits  to  be  derived  from  handling  them;  and  a  list  of  dealer 
helps  furnished,  such  as  advertising  cuts,  window  trims,  cut-outs, 
display  cards,  posters  and  other  materials. 

Catalogs  in  many  cases  are   issued  monthly  and  in  others 
only  twice  a  year,  in  Fall  and  Spring. 
H 


210  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Every  Catalog  or  Booklet  Should  Have  a  Plan  Behind  It. 

Next  to  letters,  catalogs  and  booklets  are  the  most  intimate  form 
of  advertising  and  therefore  special  care  should  be  given  to  their 
appearance  and  contents.  A  catalog  is  not  hastily  pitchforked 
together,  but  is  deliberately  planned  and  executed. 

Before  the  details  of  mechanical  construction  are  taken  up, 
decision  should  be  reached  as  to  its  character  and  purpose,  the 
style  or  method  of  presentation,  and  the  class  of  people  to  whom 
it  is  to  be  sent.  Then  comes  the  consideration  of  its  physical 
features — the  size,  cover,  paper,  illustrations,  type,  use  of  colors 
and  the  binding.  If  these  things  are  determined  beforehand 
there  will  be  no  confusion  and  no  misunderstanding  on  the  part 
of  the  printer  as  to  what  is  required  of  him.  It  is  just  as  neces- 
sary for  the  advertisement  writer  to  have  a  plan  for  the  production 
of  a  catalog  as  it  is  for  the  marine  engineer  to  have  a  plan  for  the 
ship  he  is  about  to  construct. 

Things  to  Be  Considered. — Most  catalogs  are  not  as  volumi- 
nous as  they  were  years  ago  owing  to  the  present  high  cost  of 
paper,  engravings  and  printing,  but  what  they  have  lost  in  bulk 
they  have  gained  in  attractiveness  and  in  pulling  power  by  the 
use  of  color.  These  are  important  factors  in  selling  merchandise 
through  the  printed  word.  The  fact  that  national  distributors 
in  their  magazine  and  newspaper  advertisements  frequently 
request  readers  to  send  for  a  booklet  or  catalog  indicates  that 
they  do  not  depend  entirely  upon  periodical  announcements  to 
market  their  goods.  Technical  advertisers  especially  rely  upon 
catalogs  to  make  sales.  In  one  respect  a  catalog  is  better  than  a 
flesh  and  blood  salesman — it  can  illustrate  an  entire  line  and  keep 
it  before  the  buyer  indefinitely.  In  other  words,  it  is  a  show  room 
as  well  as  a  salesman,  a  combination  that  is  of  great  advantage  in 
selling  merchandise  in  remote  towns  not  covered  by  the  regular 
salesmen. 

The  Introduction. — Every  catalog  should  start  off  with  a  live 
message  from  the  advertiser  to  his  customers  or  the  prospects 
who  are  to  receive  it.  This  should  outline  the  policy  of  the  house, 
tell  of  its  business  methods,  and  give  a  general  idea  of  the  char- 
acter of  its  products  and  its  facilities  of  manufacture.  Sometimes 
it  is  well  to  say  something  about  the  personnel  of  the  firm  and 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  CATALOG  MAKING  211 

their  experiences  in  developing  the  business  in  which  they  are 
engaged.  The  introduction  should  not  be  a  dry  recital  of  facts, 
but  a  statement  that  is  full  of  human  interest.  It  should  make 
the  customer  feel  that  in  trading  with  the  firm  he  is  dealing  with 
real  men  and  not  with  a  thing  that  has  neither  soul  nor  feeling. 
If  written  in  the  right  spirit  it  will  give  to  the  pages  that  follow 
added  interest  and  pulling  power. 

The  Problem  of  Size. — The  first  thing  to  be  decided  upon  in 
considering  the  physical  aspect  of  the  catalog  is  its  size.  It 
should  be  large  enough  to  comfortably  accommodate  all  the  text 
matter  and  illustrations  you  can  use  to  advantage  and  yet  be 
small  enough  to  be  easily  handled.  There  are  a  few  concerns 
that,  because  of  the  number  of  their  products — especially  in 
hardware — publish  catalogs  a  foot  thick  and  weighing  12 
or  15  Ib.  Recently,  however,  a  tendency  to  issue  several 
catalogs,  each  devoted  to  a  different  kind  or  line  of  mer- 
chandise, has  been  noticed.  While  the  cost  of  production  is 
greater  this  is  more  than  offset  by  the  saving  effected  in  their  dis- 
tribution. Many  merchants  carry  only  a  single  line  of  a  manu- 
facturer's products.  Why  go  to  the  expense  of  mailing  them  a 
catalog  of  2,000  or  3,000  pages  when  one  of  100  pages  describ- 
ing the  goods  in  which  they  are  interested,  would  meet  all  their 
requirements? 

Hitherto  it  has  been  somewhat  difficult  to  select  from  the  many 
different  sizes  of  catalogs  the  one  that  would  best  serve  the 
purpose  of  the  advertiser.  Both  advertisers  and  printers  have 
long  wished  that  the  time  might  come  when  catalog  sizes  would 
be  standardized,  because  of  the  saving  of  time,  cost  and  labor 
that  would  follow.  The  first  concerted  attempt  to  bring  this 
about  was  made  at  a  conference  of  representatives  of  the  United 
States  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  United  States  Department  of 
Commerce,  the  National  Association  of  Purchasing  Agents  and 
twenty-six  engineering,  printing,  paper  and  allied  associations, 
held  in  Chicago  in  1918. 

Three  standard  sizes  were  recommended  as  a  result  of  their 
deliberations :  6  X  9,  7^  X  10%  and  8X11  in.  The 
Purchasing  Agents  preferred  a  single  size,  7^  X  10%,  or  its 
half-size,  saddle-stitched  so  that  the  catalog  will  lie  flat.  Its 


212  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

advantages  are  that  it  fits  in  a  standard  letter  file  and  thus  makes 
possible  a  uniform  filing  and  indexing  system;  it  effects  economy 
in  filing  space  and  thus  insures  the  instant  availability  of  the 
catalogs  when  wanted.  This  size  page  can  be  cut  from  standard 
size  sheets  of  paper  without  waste  and  can  be  folded  on  all  makes 
of  folding  machines.  Eighty  per  cent,  of  the  printing  presses 
now  in  use  can  economically  print  it  in  16- and  32-page  page- 
forms.  One  of  the  largest  catalog  printers  in  the  country  has  con- 
centrated production  on  the  7^  X  10%  size. 

Selecting  the  Cover. — The  cover  should  be  of  heavier  weight 
and  of  more  durable  stock  than  the  paper  upon  which  the  text 
is  printed.  Its  toughness  and  color  should  depend  upon  the 
amount  of  handling  the  catalog  is  to  receive.  In  trade  catalogs 
that  are  frequently  consulted  the  cover  should  be  dark  in  color 
so  as  not  to  soil  easily,  and  tough  in  texture  so  that  it  will  with- 
stand hard  usage.  Choose  a  cover  that  will  be  in  keeping  with 
the  business  that  is  being  advertised.  The  cover  of  a  refrigerator 
manufacturer's  catalog  that  attracted  much  attention  was  a 
light  green;  that  of  a  water-heater  and  furnace  manufacturer, 
red  and  yellow.  Dark  browns,  blues  and  grays  are  in  demand  for 
machinery  catalog  covers.  Jewelers  use  white  and  bright  tints 
while  light  gray  is  favored  by  schools  and  colleges.  Excellent 
cover  color  effects  may  also  be  secured  through  printing. 

Kind  of  Paper  to  Use. — For  catalogs  in  which  line  cuts  and 
coarse  screen  halftones  are  used  newspaper  stock  is  employed, 
but  for  those  in  which  artistic  typographical  effects  are  sought 
coated  papers  are  necessary.  There  are  several  kinds  of 
finish — high,  medium  and  dull  or  semi-dull.  The  latter  is  much 
easier  to  the  eye  than  a  high  finish  and  takes  a  better  impression. 
All  coated  papers  have  a  grain  running  lengthwise  of  the  sheet 
in  the  roll  as  it  is  manufactured.  When  cut  into  sheets  care 
should  be  taken  in  printing  to  have  the  grain  so  run  that,  when 
folded,  they  will  not  crack. 

The  Different  Finishes  of  Paper  Are  Machine  Finish,  Super- 
calendered,  Coated,  Plated  and  English  Finish. — The  machine 
finish  is  produced  by  the  steel  rolls  through  which  the  paper  runs 
in  the  course  of  manufacture.  Super-calendered  finish  is  given 
by  passing  the  paper  at  high  speed  between  steel  rolls  under 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  CATALOG  MAKING  213 

heavy  pressure.  Coated  paper  is  paper  to  which  a  thin  layer  of 
white  clay  has  been  applied  to  give  it  body  and  an  extra-smooth 
surface.  Plated  paper  has  a  surface  somewhat  similar  to  that 
of  super-calendered  paper,  produced  by  pressing  it  between  steel 
plates  or  rolls.  English  finish  is  given  by  introducing  a  small 
amount  of  clay  into  the  paper  pulp  during  the  process  of 
manufacture  instead  of  adding  it  to  the  surface  after  it  is 
made. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  in  selecting  paper  of  any  class  that 
there  are  many  different  grades  and  weights  of  that  class  produced 
by  the  many  different  mills.  Unless  you  are  careful  you  may 
find  when  you  come  to  print  your  catalog  that  the  paper  instead 
of  being  clean  and  clear  is  muddy  and  dirty,  although  the  finish 
and  weight  are  exactly  what  you  ordered. 

Type. — What  kind  of  type  shall  we  use  in  printing  the  catalog? 
It  depends  largely  upon  the  nature  of  the  product.  Quality 
may  be  indicated  by  the  type  faces  used. 

Experts  say  that  Caslon  Old  Style  stands  supreme  as  a  good 
readable  type  and  that  it  is  as  popular  to-day  as  when  first  cast 
many  years  ago.  Some  type  faces,  while  artistic  in  outline,  are 
not  easily  readable  or  pleasing  when  used  in  combination  with 
cuts  except  when  they  have  been  modernized.  The  body  type 
faces  in  common  use  in  catalog  printing,  in  addition  to  Caslon, 
are  French,  Century  and  Roman  Old  Style,  Old  Style  Antique, 
Cheltenham,  Bodoni,  Modern  Roman  and  Scotch.  Type  faces 
generally  used  for  display  purposes  include  Jensen,  Delia  Robia, 
Cheltenham  Bold,  Bookman,  Post  Old  Style  and  Bewick  Roman. 

Lines  set  in  capital  letters  need  more  leading  than  those  set  in 
lower  case  or  small  letters.  It  has  been  found  by  experiment 
that  the  length  of  line  easiest  to  read  is  2%  in.  It  can  be 
read  at  the  rate  of  Q^Q  words  per  second.  A  very  short  line, 
singularly  enough,  is  as  hard  to  read  as  a  very  long  line.  Black 
letters  on  a  white  background  form  the  best  combination  in 
printing  provided  the  paper  is  not  high-finished,  coated  stock. 

The  size  of  the  type  should  be  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the 
catalog  page.  Ten-point  is  recommended  for  the  ordinary  size 
page,  although  12- and  14-point  can  be  employed  to  advantage 
when  the  page  is  9  X  12  or  larger. 


214  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Cuts  and  Illustrations. — In  order  to  secure  the  best  results  in 
the  reproduction  of  illustrations  the  cuts  or  plates  must  be  made 
with  due  regard  for  the  work  they  are  expected  to  do.  The  two 
most  popular  kinds  are  line  cuts  and  halftones.  The  use  of  wood 
cuts,  once  in  favor  with  catalog  makers,  is  a  fast  dying  one.  The 
character  of  the  cuts  depends  upon  the  kind  and  quality  of  the 
paper  to  be  used  in  printing.  It  is  therefore  highly  important 
in  ordering  them  from  the  engraver  that  he  be  furnished  these  facts 
in  order  that  he  may  produce  the  right  kind  of  plates.  High- 
grade  line  cuts  which  are  almost  etchings  in  effect  are  more 
applicable  to  high-quality  advertising  than  the  ordinary  half- 
tone. In  technical  advertising  halftones  are  preferable. 

The  proper  screen  for  halftones  when  a  dull  paper  is  to  be  used 
is  133  lines  to  the  inch  and  for  coated  stock  from  150  to  175 
lines.  As  we  already  know,  a  screen  is  a  sheet  of  glass  upon 
which  parallel  lines  are  drawn  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  the 
fineness  of  the  screen  depending  upon  the  number  of  lines  to  the 
inch.  These  lines  break  up  the  surface  into  dots.  On  the 
negatives  the  shadow  dots  are  sometimes  allowed  to  run  a  little 
larger  than  for  ordinary  work,  according  to  the  ability  of  the 
paper  to  take  care  of  the  spreading  of  the  ink.  The  larger  dots 
in  the  high  lights  permit  of  deeper  etching.  Because  of  the 
absorbent  qualities  of  the  paper  and  the  pressure  required  to  get 
a  good  impression  the  plates  have  a  tendency  to  flatten  out  unless 
they  are  treated  in  this  way.  If  you  want  a  good  job  of  printing 
do  not  use  old  and  new  cuts  together  on  the  same  page.  The 
old  cuts,  being  worn,  will  not  show  up  as  well  as  the  new. 

Binding. — Up  to  80  pages,  the  stock  being  on  the  basis  of  25 
X  38-80,  the  catalog  should  be  saddle-stitched,  with  two  wires 
through  the  cover,  trimmed  flush.  If  7  X  10  in.  in  size, 
three  wires  will  give  additional  strength.  The  cover,  which 
should  be  tough,  but  not  too  thick  or  of  too  hard  a  finish,  should 
be  sufficiently  porous  to  take  the  glue.  If  the  stock  is  heavy  it 
should  be  scored  so  that  it  will  crease  properly  and  not  break 
away  so  readily  when  glued  to  the  book.  No  catalog  over  1 
in.  in  thickness  should  be  wired.  Catalogs  that  are  to  be 
handled  much  should  be  hand-  or  saddle-stitched  so  that  they 
will  lie  flat  when  opened. 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  CATALOG  MAKING  215 

Distribution. — Catalogs  run  into  money  very  fast.  There- 
fore they  should  not  be  sent  out  indiscriminately.  See  that  your 
mailing  list  is  kept  up-to-date  and  contains  no  "dead"  names. 
There  is  a  certain  waste  that  cannot  be  avoided,  especially  when 
an  advertiser  offers  to  mail  a  catalog  on  request.  Many  persons 
who  have  not  the  slightest  intention  of  buying  will  write  in  for 
copies.  The  sales  department  of  one  of  the  best  known  auto- 
mobile concerns  in  America  once  received  a  request  for  a  catalog 
written  on  the  crested  letterhead  of  an  exclusive  coast  hotel. 
In  an  effort  to  further  interest  the  prospect  several  letters  were 
written  to  him,  but  they  elicited  no  response.  Finally  the 
manager  of  the  branch  office  nearest  the  place  where  the  hotel 
was  located  was  instructed  to  call  upon  the  writer. 

Visions  of  the  sale  of  a  $4,000  car  flitted  through  the  agent's 
mind  as  he  made  the  forty-mile  trip.  When  he  arrived  at  the 
fashionable  hostelry  and  asked  that  his  card  be  taken  to  the 
room  of  the  guest  whose  name  was  signed  to  the  request  for 
the  catalog,  he  was  told  that  no  one  of  that  name  was  stopping  at 
the  hotel.  The  automobile  agent  insisted  that  he  must  be  there. 
The  clerk  thought  a  moment  and  then  suddenly  exclaimed, 
"Sure  he's  here!  He  is  the  head  bell-hop."  They  went  to  the 
boy's  room,  where  they  found  enough  automobile  catalogs  to 
fill  a  bushel  basket,  not  one  of  which  cost  less  than  40  cents,  and 
several  as  much  as  $3. 

Export  Catalogs. — Now  that  the  United  States,  as  a  result  of 
the  great  war,  is  actively  engaged  in  foreign  trade,  catalogs 
are  being  largely  depended  upon  to  carry  the  business  messages 
of  our  manufacturers  and  merchants  to  foreign  countries.  In 
preparing  catalogs  for  distribution  among  people  whose  language, 
customs  and  traditions  differ  materially  from  our  own,  certain 
things  must  be  taken  into  consideration. 

Catalogs  Should  be  Printed  in  the  Language  in  General  Use  in  the 
Country  to  Which  They  Are  to  Be  Sent. — Hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars  have  been  wasted  by  the  United  States  exporters  on 
catalogs  printed  in  English  and  circulated  in  South  America 
where  Spanish  and  Portuguese  are  the  only  languages  spoken 
by  more  than  90  per  cent,  of  the  population.  Don't  send  catalogs 
in  English  to  any  of  your  foreign  customers  unless  you  know  they 


216  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

understand  that  language.  If  you  wish  to  do  business  in  Brazil 
your  catalog  must  be  printed  in  Portuguese;  if  in  Argentine 
and  other  countries  of  South  America,  in  Spanish.  Another 
point  to  be  remembered  is  that  you  should  avoid  the  use  of 
American  slang  or  colloquial  expressions. 

In  describing  your  goods  give  full  details — leave  nothing  to  the 
imagination.  Remember  that  the  buyer  may  be  unfamiliar 
with  the  product  you  are  selling  or  he  may  never  have  purchased 
merchandise  in  the  United  States.  He  wants  to  know  all  he 
can  about  your  firm,  your  goods  and  your  method  of  doing  busi- 
ness. Make  everything  so  plain  that  requests  for  further  infor- 
mation by  letter  or  cable  will  be  unnecessary. 

In  Giving  Weights  and  Measures  Use  the  System  in  Vogue  in 
the  Country  in  Which  the  Catalog  is  to  Be  Circulated. — The  Metric 
System  is  in  general  use  in  Latin  America,  France,  Spain  and 
many  other  countries.  It  is  not  advisable  to  print  prices  except 
when  the  catalog  is  to  be  distributed  among  consumers.  Better 
print  the  price  list  on  a  separate  sheet. 

Make  Your  Catalog  Durable. — Cheap  paper,  flimsy  covers, 
poor  printing  and  careless  binding  are  a  poor  investment  in 
angling  for  export  trade.  If  it  falls  into  the  hands  of  a  good 
prospect  or  is  received  by  a  customer  it  will  be  constantly  used 
and  consulted,  and  therefore  should  be  so  well  built  that  it  will  not 
fall  apart  after  it  has  been  consulted  once  or  twice. 

Use  Illustrations  Freely,  but  See  to  It  that  They  Do  Not  Misrepre- 
sent the  Goods. — Lying  pictures  will  destroy  confidence  as  quickly 
as  lying  text.  If  you  can  put  local  color  into  your  illustration 
you  wiU  greatly  enhance  the  value  of  their  appeal  to  your  for- 
eign audience.  When  you  have  an  English  catalog  translated  into 
another  language  have  the  work  done  by  a  person  who  is  thor- 
oughly conversant  with  business  terms  and  practices  in  both 
countries.  Several  New  York  exporters  who  cater  to  South 
American  trade  have  their  translations  made  in  Rio  Janiero, 
Buenos  Aires  or  Santiago  because  of  the  superior  quality  of  the 
work  done  by  native  translators.  You  can  secure  the  addresses 
of  reliable  translators  here  or  abroad  by  writing  to  the  editor 
of  any  one  of  the  leading  export  publications. 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  CATALOG  MAKING  217 

Questions 

1.  For  what  purposes  are  catalogs  used? 

2.  In  what  respect  should  a  catalog  reflect  the  character  of  the  advertiser? 

3.  Name  the  three  kinds  of  catalogs. 

4.  What  points  should  be  determined  before  the  actual  work  of  con- 
structing the  catalog  is  begun? 

6.  In  what  respect  is  a  catalog  better  than  a  salesman? 

6.  What  should  be  the  character  of  the  introduction? 

7.  What  three  standard  catalog  sizes  have  been  adopted? 

8.  What  things  should  be  considered  in  selecting  the  stock  for  a  cover? 

9.  Name  the  different  finishes  of  paper. 

10.  Name  some  of  the  type  faces  used  in  catalog  printing. 

11.  What  length  of  line  is  easiest  to  read? 

12.  Wliat  size  of  type  is  recommended  for  the  ordinary  size  page? 

13.  When  cuts  are  ordered  of  the  photo-engraver  why  should  he  be  in- 
formed as  to  the  character  of  the  paper  to  be  used? 

14.  When  should  a  catalog  be  hand-stitched?     When  wire-stitched? 

15.  In  distributing  catalogs  what  precautions  should  be  taken  to  prevent 
waste? 

16.  Give  several  practical  suggestions  for  the  preparation  of  export 
catalogs. 

17.  In  what  language  should  a  catalog  be  printed  that  is  to  be  distributed 
in  Brazil?     In  Argentina? 


CHAPTER  XIX 
THE  MISSION  OF  THE  BOOKLET 

A  booklet  has  been  defined  as  "a  salesman  traveling  by  mail." 
Some  of  the  suggestions  made  in  the  preceding  chapter  con- 
cerning the  selection  of  paper,  covers,  and  type  dress  for  a 
catalog,  apply  with  equal  force  to  a  booklet.  In  the  catalog, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  we  deal  with  classified  information — 
price  lists,  simple  or  technical  descriptions  of  many  articles  of 
merchandise,  with  accompanying  illustrations — that  usually 
bulks  large  and  is  frequently  referred  to  by  those  who  are  in- 
terested in  its  contents. 

In  the  booklet,  on  the  other  hand,  we  present  arguments  in 
favor  of  the  articles  or  services  offered  and  give  reasons  why  they 
should  be  purchased.  We  go  more  into  details  than  is  possible 
in  newspaper  or  magazine  advertisements.  Often  booklets 
contain  entertaining  stories  about  the  firm  and  its  manufacturing 
processes,  statements  about  its  policies,  the  distribution  of  its 
goods,  and  such  other  matters  as  would  appeal  to  the  public 
who  buy,  or  the  retailers  who  sell  its  products. 

"Reason,  sunlit  with  imagination,  should  characterize  the  ideal 
booklet,"  says  an  advertisement  writer.  "Put  a  little  of  the 
pink  flesh  of  imagination  on  the  dry  bones  of  logic. "  Argument 
will  sell  golf  balls  to  a  golf  player,  but  not  to  other  people.  If 
you  want  to  influence  the  latter  you  must  appeal  to  their  imagina- 
tion through  pictures  of  scenes  on  the  golf  links  and  descriptions 
of  the  pleasures  and  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  game. 

In  Writing  a  Booklet  the  Story  Form  of  Presentation  Will  Be 
Found  Particularly  Effective. — People  like  to  read  stories,  what- 
ever the  subject,  if  they  are  well  told  and  have  a  human  interest. 
Men  and  women  are  only  grown-up  children.  In  their  kinder- 
garten days  they  were  taught  many  important  facts  about  the 
animal  and  vegetable  worlds  by  means  of  stories  related  by  their 

218 


THE  MISSION  OF  THE  BOOKLET  219 

teachers  or  parents.  In  their  mature  years  they  are  still  sus- 
ceptible to  this  kind  of  instruction,  but  insist  that  the  matter 
presented  shall  be  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  worthy  of  their 
attention.  When  you  write  a  business  story  be  sure  you  stick  to 
facts.  It's  so  easy  to  exaggerate  and  misrepresent  in  order  to 
make  the  narrative  grip  the  reader  that  unless  you  are  constantly 
on  your  guard  you  will  find  yourself  spinning  Munchausen  tales 
that  no  one  will  believe. 

Avoid  the  Commonplace. — Don't  follow  a  bell-wether.  Be 
original — don't  "crib"  other  people's  work.  We  all  use  practic- 
ally the  same  words  but  we  have  a  chance  to  show  our  origi- 
nality and  ability  in  the  way  we  combine  them.  A  booklet 
should  be  entertaining  as  well  as  instructive.  If  it  lacks 
spontaneity,  life,  and  a  purpose  it  will  not  make  a  favorable 
impression. 

Booklet  Sizes. — The  size  of  a  booklet  has  much  to  do  with  its 
attractiveness.  While  booklets  are  still  made  in  many  shapes 
and  sizes,  advertisers  who  have  been  most  successful  in  their  use 
favor  the  smaller,  standard  sizes — those  that  will  fit  the  pocket. 
They  are  handy  to  hold  and  are  convenient  to  read  in  the  street 
cars  or  while  waiting  for  an  interview  or  for  a  train.  A  large 
proportion  of  those  put  out  by  leading  manufacturers  are  33^ 
X  634  in.  and  will  exactly  fit  a  6^  envelope. 

Large  booklets  are  hard  to  handle,  take  up  space  and  can  only 
be  read  to  advantage  when  spread  out  on  a  desk  or  table.  More- 
over, they  are  difficult  to  file.  They  cannot  be  folded  without 
spoiling  their  appearance.  Sometimes  it  is  necessary  to  make 
the  booklet  large  for  the  sake  of  impressiveness  or  to  accommo- 
date large  cuts  and  diagrams. 

The  proportion  of  a  booklet  should  be  carefully  considered. 
It  is  possible  to  make  a  mistake  in  such  a  simple  geometrical 
figure  as  an  oblong.  One  man  will  lay  it  out  in  such  a  manner 
that  it  will  be  graceful  in  its  proportions  while  another  will 
produce  a  booklet  that  is  ungainly.  The  nature  of  the  product 
to  be  advertised  may  be  suggested  by  its  shape.  For  instance, 
a  line  of  imported  parasols  or  expensive  hosiery  would  suggest 
a  long,  slim,  booklet  while  cement  blocks  or  machinery  would 
require  one  that  is  nearly  square. 


220  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Coated  and  Highly  Calendered  Paper  Should  Be  Sparingly 
Used. — The  shiny  surface  is  not  grateful  to  the  eye  as  it  furnishes 
a  trying  background  to  the  printed  page.  The  glaring  effect 
of  the  paper  upon  the  eyes  makes  the  type  hard  to  read.  The 
best  thing  in  its  favor  is  that  it  brings  out  the  details  of  fine  half- 
tone plates  better  than  any  other  kind  of  paper. 

When  the  greater  part  of  the  space  is  occupied  by  text  matter 
the  most  satisfactory  typographical  results  may  be  secured  by 
the  use  of  dull-finished,  hand-made,  or  machine-made  paper 
that  imitates  hand-made,  or  even  a  good  book  stock,  if  cheapness 
is  to  be  considered.  On  this  kind  of  paper  zinc  engravings, 
instead  of  halftones,  can  be  employed  to  advantage.  It  is  well 
to  remember  that  the  illustrated  booklet  tells  no  more  and  no  less 
than  the  advertiser  wants  to  make  known. 

The  Booklet  Should  Be  Inviting  in  Appearance. — Its  appeal 
may  be  based  on  two  things — its  purpose  as  indicated  by  the 
title  and  its  intent  as  shown  by  the  arrangement.  A  lot  of  money 
is  wasted  on  fancy  designs  for  the  front  cover  page.  If  a  suffi- 
cient amount  of  thought  is  given  to  the  title  it  should  be  possible 
for  the  advertiser  to  write  a  line  or  a  sentence  that  will  literally 
compel  the  person  who  receives  the  booklet  to  open  and  read  it. 
"There's  Treasure  Within,"  "How  to  Save  Money,"  "How  to 
Double  Your  Income,"  and  "A  Short  Cut  to  Wealth"  are  titles 
of  this  character. 

Arranging  the  Type. — Type  matter  should  not  be  placed  in 
the  center  of  the  page,  but  above  it,  and  nearer  the  fold  than  to 
the  opposite  edge.  This  arrangement  places  the  widest  margin 
at  the  bottom  of  the  page  and  the  narrowest  next  to  the  fold. 
The  old-time  bookbinder  laid  out  the  page  in  this  way  to 
allow  convenient  space  for  making  notes  on  the  margins 
and  while  note-making  is  no  longer  in  vogue  the  practice  is 
continued  for  the  reason  that  it  produces  a  much  better  look- 
ing page. 

When  the  page  is  not  broken  up  by  illustrations,  subheads 
should  be  used  unless  it  is  quite  small  in  size.  There  are  two 
kinds  of  subheads — one,  the  centered  horizontal  line,  set  in  small 
caps,  and  the  other,  the  indented.  The  former  best  serves  its 
purpose  in  large  booklets  and  the  latter  in  the  smaller  ones. 


THE  MISSION  OF  THE  BOOKLET 


221 


<s$» 


A  group  of  booklets  showing  a  wide  variety  of  treatment  in  cover  designs  and 
titles.     In  some  cases  illustrations  are  introduced  to  advantage. 


222  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Subheads  should  not  be  placed  above  the  text  at  the  top  of  the 
page  or  below  it  at  the  bottom. 

The  employment  of  large  initial  letters  at  the  beginning  of  a 
booklet  or  in  the  introductory  paragraph  of  a  section  gives  an 
attractive  appearance  to  the  page.  Cheltenham  and  Scotch 
Roman  type  are  well  adapted  for  this  purpose.  Fancy,  specially 
designed  initial  letters  are  frequently  employed  in  the  more 
expensive  booklets  to  carry  out  the  idea  of  exclusiveness  or  class. 

Concerning  Illustrations. — In  selecting  booklet  illustrations 
you  should  keep  in  mind  these  three  requirements:  First,  a 
picture  should  truthfully  and  graphically  represent  the  advertised 
article;  second,  it  should,  if  possible,  show  the  article  in  use;  and 
third,  it  should  be  artistic  and  pleasing  unless  it  is  technical  in 
character.  In  short,  the  illustration  should  represent  the  article 
so  convincingly  that  the  reader  of  the  booklet  will  be  seized  with 
a  desire  to  possess  it  at  once. 

Cost  of  Booklets. — Booklets  of  a  pretentious  kind  are  ex- 
pensive. Those  issued  by  several  automobile  companies  cost 
$5  apiece  and  upward.  Ordinary  booklets  run  from  10  or 
15  cents  to  $1.  Therefore  you  should  carefully  estimate  the 
number  you  can  use  to  advantage  and  order  accordingly.  It  is 
safer  to  get  out  larger  editions  of  booklets  having  a  permanent 
value  than  of  those  that  only  serve  a  temporary  purpose.  For 
example,  a  booklet  devoted  to  the  history  of  a  business  can  be 
distributed  to  advantage  for  a  long  time,  while  one  describing  a 
novelty  that  is  the  season's  vogue  has  little  or.  no  value  the 
following  year. 

Folders  and  Their  Uses. — Folders  are  sheets  of  paper  so  cut 
that  when  folded  they  resemble  a  booklet  in  appearance,  are 
convenient  to  carry  in  the  pocket  and  can  be  mailed  in  standard 
sized  envelopes.  Because  they  are  less  expensive  than  book- 
lets they  are  more  extensively  employed  in  advertising  campaigns. 
Some  advertisers  have  found  them  more  productive  of  business 
than  letters.  Folders  are  employed  to  develop  and  retain 
trade;  to  keep  alive  interest  in  the  store  or  the  product;  to  furnish 
information  to  travelers  regarding  railroads  and  steamship  lines; 
to  show,  through  pictures,  how  a  device  or  machine  is  operated; 
to  call  attention  to  special  sales,  etc. 


THE  MISSION  OF  THE  BOOKLET  223 

If  the  text  is  arranged  in  page  form  each  page  should  form  a 
complete  unit  by  itself — in  other  words,  the  type  matter  should 
not  break  over  from  one  page  to  another.  The  copy  should  be 
chatty  in  style  except  when  tabulated  matter  is  presented.  Use 
pictures  on  the  inside  of  the  folder  and  a  catch-line  on  the  outside. 
The  title  should  be  such  as  to  arouse  curiosity,  as,  for  example, 
"This  Is  The  Stuff  Dreams  Are  Made  Of." 

Sometimes  a  post  card  is  made  a  part  of  the  folder  for  the 
convenience  of  the  reader  in  ordering  goods  or  in  sending  a  request 
for  a  booklet  or  further  information. 

Persistence  is  essential  to  success  in  getting  business  through 
folders.  When  a  Pittsburgh  collection  agency  started  its  career 
it  relied  upon  folders  to  obtain  clients.  Twice  a  week  for  several 
years  these  trade  messengers  were  sent  out  to  a  list  of  prospects. 
A  curious  thing  about  its  experience  was  that  although  its  busi- 
ness rapidly  increased  year  after  year,  direct  results  from  the 
folders  were  hard  to  trace.  When  the  manager  one  day  figured 
out  how  much  the  direct  inquiries  he  received  cost  and  found  it 
was  $50  each,  he  threw  up  his  hands,  but  kept  on  advertising. 
To-day  the  agency  has  over  2,000  clients  and  is  one  of  the 
largest  collection  agencies  in  the  world. 

The  results  from  the  use  of  folders  are  liable  to  be  disappointing 
to  new  advertisers  for  they  are  sometimes  felt  rather  than  seen. 
The  fact  that  progressive  firms  doing  a  large  business  continue 
to  employ  them  in  their  advertising  campaigns  is  proof  that  they 
are  satisfied  with  the  service  they  perform.  Folders  are  one  of 
the  cheapest  advertising  mediums  that  can  be  used.  Quite  an 
effective  campaign,  consisting  of  12  pieces  of  copy,  mailed 
at  the  rate  of  two  pieces  a  month  for  6  months  to  2,000  persons, 
can  be  carried  on  for  $3,000.  As  one  folder  has  been  known  to 
bring  in  a  single  order  that  paid  the  entire  expense  of  its  produc- 
tion, there  is  always  a  gambling  chance  that  the  next  folder  you 
send  out  may  put  you  in  touch  with  customers  whose  purchases 
will  amount  to  many  thousands  of  dollars. 

Questions 

1.  What  is  a  booklet? 

2.  What  advantages  does  it  have  over  a  newspaper  or  magazine  ad- 
vertisement? 


224  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

3.  Why  is  the  story  form  of  presentation  effective? 

4.  What  is  a  favorite  size  for  a  booklet? 

5.  Why  should  highly  calendered  paper  be  sparingly  used? 

6.  What  is  the  rule  for  the  arrangement  of  the  margins  surrounding  the 
type  page? 

7.  When  should  subheads  be  employed? 

8.  What  are  the  three  requirements  in  the  selection  of  booklet  illustra- 
tions? 

9.  Give  some  idea  as  to  the  cost  of  booklets. 

10.  What  are  folders  and  for  what  purposes  are  they  used? 

11.  Give  the  experience  of  a  Pittsburgh  collection  agency  hi  building  up 
its  business  through  the  employment  of  folders. 

12.  About  what  will  it  cost  to  send  twelve  pieces  of  copy  to  a  list  of  2,000 
people? 

13.  Prepare  layout  and  copy  for  a  twelve  page  booklet  of  Regal  Shoes. 
(You  can  secure  the  material  from  one  of  the  company's  retail  stores  or 
from  its  published  advertisements.) 


CHAPTER  XX 
USEFULNESS  OF  HOUSE  ORGANS 

What  is  a  house  organ?  A  house  organ  is  a  magazine  or 
bulletin  issued  by  a  person,  firm,  corporation  or  organization  to 
dealers,  customers,  employees  or  members  for  the  purpose  of  promot- 
ing good  will,  increasing  sales,  inducing  better  salesmanship  or  de- 
veloping greater  profits.  The  public  knows  less  about  this  medium 
than  some  of  the  others  because  little  is  said  or  written  about  it 
by  advertising  men.  And  yet  its  value  is  recognized  by  many 
of  the  foremost  commercial  and  industrial  concerns.  Eighteen 
hundred  house  organs  are  published  annually  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada  at  an  estimated  cost  of  $7,500,000.  One,  the 
Metropolitan,  issued  by  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany, of  New  York,  for  its  agents  and  policy  holders,  has  the 
largest  circulation  of  any  periodical  in  the  world — 5,000,000 
copies.  The  oldest  house  organ  is  the  Fall  River  Line  Journal 
which  has  been  issued  since  May  15,  1879.  Printers'  Ink  was 
started  by  George  P.  Rowell  in  1888  as  a  house  organ  for  his 
advertising  agency.  System,  the  magazine  of  business,  began  life 
as  the  house  organ  of  a  filing  cabinet  manufacturer. 

How  Classified. — House  organs  may  be  classified  under  four 
heads : 

1.  Those  issued  for  jobbers  and  retailers. 

2.  For  consumers  or  users. 

3.  For  agents,  salesmen  and  other  employees  either  at  home 
or  in  the  field.     They  vary  in  size,  weight  and  appearance,  and 
are  printed  on  a  fine  quality  of  paper.     Their  covers   are,  in 
many  instances,  especially  designed  by  high-priced  artists  and 
are  printed  in  several  colors.     In  physical  appearance  some 
compare  favorably  with  the  best  literary  magazines. 

4.  For    members    of    fraternal,    social,    religious    and   other 
associations. 

15  225 


226  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Popular  Sizes. — The  two  sizes  of  house  organs  that  have 
found  the  greatest  favor  are  7  X  10  and  4^  X  6  in.,  the  former 
being  known  as  the  "magazine"  size,  and  the  latter  as  the 
"pocket"  size.  The  number  of  pages  varies,  being  in  multiples 
of  4 — as  8  pages,  16,  24  and  32.  Twelve-  and  20-page  papers 
are  not  economical  on  account  of  the  extra  expense  involved  in 
cutting  and  folding  the  sheets  upon  which  they  are  printed.  If 
halftones  are  used,  coated,  enameled  or  dull-finished  stock  gives 
the  most  satisfactory  results.  The  proper  size  of  sheets  for  the 
magazine-size  page  is  28  X  42,  the  weight,  60,  80,  100,  and  120 
lb.,  depending  upon  the  number  of  pages  and  the  postage  limit. 
If  you  want  to  limit  the  postage  to  1  cent  a  copy  for  a  16-page 
publication,  80-  or  100-lb.  paper  should  be  selected. 

Who  Are  the  Publishers  of  House  Organs? — They  are  manu- 
facturers who  employ  them  to  reach  the  jobbers  or  retailers 
who  already  handle  their  products,  or  prospects  whom  they 
desire  to  convert  into  customers,  and,  to  a  limited  degree,  the 
consumer.  The  house  organ  is  also  used  to  develop  esprit  de 
corps,  loyalty,  cooperation  and  good  will  among  employees  or 
agents.  Its  aim,  generally  speaking,  is  to  bring  those  to  whom 
it  is  addressed  into  a  closer  and  more  friendly  business  relationship. 
The  house  organ  is  issued  in  various  forms.  Sometimes  it  is  a 
newspaper  printed  on  newsprint  stock  with  illustrations  and 
headings  like  those  of  a  daily  or  weekly  journal.  Sometimes 
it  is  a  bulletin,  a  single-  or  double-page  sheet.  Or  it  appears  as  a 
blotter,  in  which  case  the  reading-matter  is  confined  to  a  few  items. 
The  Travis  Milk  Bottle,  of  Clarksburg,  W.  Va.,  takes  the  novel 
shape  of  a  milk  bottle.  The  most  popular  sizes,  of  course,  are 
the  magazine  and  the  pocket,  already  described. 

The  House  Organ  Is  the  Printed  Message  of  the  House  to  Those 
Whose  Cooperation  Is  Desired. — It  contains  news  of  the  person- 
nel of  the  organization;  it  gives  details  of  policy,  of  management, 
of  changes  in  prices  and  of  new  territory  opened  up.  It  paves 
the  way  for  the  salesmen  out  in  the  field  by  acquainting  the 
retailer,  in  advance  of  their  coming,  with  the  character  and 
quality  of  the  goods  they  have  to  offer  and  the  standing  of  the 
house  that  makes  them.  When  they  call  on  the  jobber  or  retailer 


USEFULNESS  OF  HOUSE  ORGANS 


227 


A  group  of  representative  house  organs.  Note  the  wide  variety  of  treatment 
of  their  cover  pages.  The  Metropolitan  is  said  to  have  the  largest  circulation  of 
any  periodical  in  the  world — 5,000,000  copies. 


228  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

prospect  they  do  not  have  to  spend  several  hours  in  describing 
the  house  they  represent  or  the  goods  they  sell.  Many  house 
organs  are  educational  in  character  and  aim  to  teach  merchants 
and  clerks  better  business  methods  and  higher  standards  of 
efficiency. 

House  organs  are  also  employed  by  retailers  as  an  intimate 
medium  of  communication  between  them  and  their  customers. 
In  such  mediums  they  can  give  details  about  their  goods  that 
would  be  impracticable  in  other  mediums  because  of  the  cost. 
They  present  the  news  of  the  store,  tell  of  new  supplies  of 
merchandise  received,  new  departments  established,  and  new 
clerks  employed,  and  give  reports  of  entertainments  and  other 
functions. 

House  Organs  as  Advertising  Mediums. — The  value  of  the 
house  organ  lies  in  its  directness  and  its  automatic,  relentless 
repetition.  It  drops  into  the  hands  of  the  reader  regularly  and 
systematically.  The  latter  may  not  at  first  pay  much  attention 
to  its  contents  or  be  influenced  by  it,  but  if  the  magazine  is  well 
edited,  as  it  must  be  to  achieve  success,  and  contains  bright, 
snappy  articles  relating  to  the  house  and  its  products,  judiciously 
interspersed  with  others  written  in  a  lighter  and  interesting 
vein,  he  will  soon  fall  under  the  spell  of  its  influence.  The 
Willys-Overland  Company  declares  that  its  house  organ  is  "the 
most  direct  form  of  advertising  we  know  of." 

A  singular  thing  about  house  organs  is  that  although  the 
most  successful  make  no  special  effort  to  produce  sales,  they  are, 
in  many  instances,  remarkably  effective  in  bringing  in  business. 
A  well-known  machine  company  traced  sales  amounting  to 
$18,000  in  one  year,  and  to  $76,753  the  next,  directly  to  the 
influence  of  its  house  organ. 

In  the  case  of  a  New  York  manufacturer  of  railway  supplies, 
the  first  year  after  he  established  a  house  organ  his  sales  jumped 
130  per  cent,  over  those  of  the  preceding  year.  Three  years 
later  the  increase  was  250  per  cent. 

The  Miller  Sawtrimiter  paid  its  way  from  the  first  issue. 
The  second  number,  in  the  five  days  following  the  date  of  its 
first  publication,  produced  $20,000  worth  of  orders. 

Six  years  after  an  Eastern  manufacturer  had  established  him- 


USEFULNESS  OF  HOUSE  ORGANS  229 

self  in  business  he  decided  to  start  a  house  organ.  At  the  end 
of  another  six  years  he  had  developed  a  $5,000,000  demand  for 
his  product.  The  only  advertising  support  he  gave  his  salesmen 
was  that  afforded  by  the  house  organ.  The  latter  found  they 
could  cover  more  ground  at  less  cost  than  formerly,  and  sell 
more  goods. 

Another  firm  discovered  that  its  house  organ  had  produced  a 
volume  of  new  business  equivalent  to  the  efforts  of  its  six  expert 
salesmen  at  the  cost  of  one.  Moreover,  its  salesmen  were  able 
to  call  on  dealers  more  frequently  and  thus  keep  constantly 
alive  their  interest  in  the  firm  and  in  the  line  of  goods  handled. 

Robert  E.  Ramsay,  author  of  "Effective  House  Organs,"  cites 
the  case  of  the  Houghton  Line,  published  by  E.  F.  Houghton 
&  Company  of  Philadelphia,  which  in  nine  years  quadrupled  the 
company's  business  and  reduced  the  cost  of  obtaining  inquiries 
through  advertising  by  90  per  cent. 

George  Frederick  Wilson  in  his  book,  "The  House  Organ: 
How  to  Make  It  Produce  Results, "  cites  the  case  of  a  manu- 
facturer of  railroad  equipment  who  sold  eight  passenger  cars, 
one  baggage  car  and  five  snow  ploughs  directly  through  a  single 
issue  of  his  house  organ.  He  also  tells  of  a  shoe  manufacturer 
who  enclosed  an  order  blank  in  one  issue  of  his  house  organ 
which  in  30  days  brought  $60,000  worth  of  orders.  The  Trenton 
Potteries  Company  printed  in  its  house  organ,  which  had  a 
circulation  of  10,000,  a  notice  of  a  new  catalog  it  had  just  issued, 
and  received  1,000  requests  for  copies. 

A  concern  manufacturing  motors  increased  its  business  113 
per  cent,  after  five  issues  of  its  house  organ  had  been  distributed. 
Immediately  following  the  appearance  of  the  several  numbers 
the  entire  normal  output  of  its  factory  for  the  remainder  of 
that  year  and  the  year  following  was  sold.  A  large  addition  to 
the  plant  had  to  be  made  to  keep  up  with  the  demand  that  had 
been  created  by  the  house  organ. 

The  Globe  Machine  &  Stamping  Company,  of  Cleveland, 
manufacturers  of  tumble  barrels  and  automobile  parts,  in  1906 
established  a  house  organ  called  The  Silent  Partner,  because 
it  had  become  convinced  that  however  profitable  trade  paper 
advertising  might  be  to  other  concerns  it  was  not  paying  the 


230  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

company.  The  magazine  was  printed  on  antique  book  paper, 
24  pages  to  an  issue,  the  cover  being  of  a  different  color  each 
month.  It  was  received  with  such  favor  that  several  thousand 
people  now  pay  $1  a  year  to  have  the  publication  sent  to  them. 
Seven-eighths  of  the  names  on  its  mailing  list  are  those  of  execu- 
tives of  some  of  the  largest  business  concerns.  It  accepts  no 
outside  advertising  and  restricts  its  own  advertising  to  a  few 
pages.  The  Silent  Partner  has  none  of  the  earmarks  of  a 
trade  paper;  in  fact,  the  aim  of  the  company  is  to  keep  it  as  far 
away  from  the  trade  paper  field  as  possible. 

A  house  organ  that  is  well  known  in  all  parts  of  the  country  is 
Buck's  Shot,  issued  by  the  Buck  Stove  &  Range  Company  of 
St.  Louis.  It  is  an  excellent  publication  and  is  read  with  eager 
interest  by  nearly  every  stove  retailer  in  the  country. 

The  Sherwin  Williams  Paint  Company  issues  five  different 
house  organs — The  S.  W.  P.,  The  Home  Decorator,  The 
Colorist,  The  Chameleon,  and  The  Spectrum,  one  for  the  dealer, 
one  for  the  consumer,  one  for  the  architect,  one  for  the  painter 
and  one  for  the  salesman.  This  we  believe,  is  the  largest 
number  published  in  the  interest  of  a  single  manufacturer. 

The  Standard  Sanitary  Manufacturing  Company  spends 
$40,000  a  year  on  its  house  organ  and  considers  it  a  good  invest- 
ment. The  Burroughs  Clearing  House,  issued  by  the  Burroughs 
Adding  Machine  Company,  has  a  circulation  of  50,000  copies  a 
month  and  is  considered  an  invaluable  aid  to  the  company's 
business. 

If  a  house  organ  is  fortunate  enough  to  attain  any  consider- 
able measure  of  success,  the  publisher,  when  he  sees  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction mounting  upward,  is  tempted  to  seek  outside  advertising 
for  its  columns  in  order  to  reduce  expenses.  Such  a  course 
would  seem  desirable  but  experience  shows  that  it  is  not  always 
wise  to  solicit  advertising  for  a  house  organ  in  competition  with 
the  trade  press.  The  house  organ's  principal  object  is  to  further 
the  interest  of  a  single  firm,  while  that  of  the  trade  paper  is  to 
serve  the  interests  of  all  who  are  engaged  in  the  business  it 
represents.  Hence,  the  trade  paper  has  a  stronger  claim  for 
support  from  manufacturers  and  others  in  its  field.  When  a 


USEFULNESS  OF  HOUSE  ORGANS  231 

national  distributor  is  approached  for  an  advertising  contract 
by  solicitors  representing  these  two  mediums,  nine  times  out  of 
ten  he  will  choose  the  trade  paper  rather  than  the  house  organ, 
on  the  ground  that  his  chances  for  increasing  his  sales  are  greater 
in  a  publication  devoted  to  the  entire  industry  rather  than  in 
one  whose  principal  purpose  is  to  further  the  interests  of  a  single 
firm  engaged  in  that  industry. 

The  chief  objection  to  the  publication  of  advertisements  of 
other  concerns  in  a  house  organ  is  not,  however,  the  competition 
of  trade  papers  or  the  tendency  of  general  advertisers  to  regard 
requests  for  advertisements  for  a  house  organ  as  a  "hold-up," 
but  rather  that  every  outside  advertisement  printed  in  it  ab- 
sorbs a  portion  of  the  reader's  attention  and  therefore  lessens  the 
amount  he  would  otherwise  give  to  the  firm's  own  message. 

Therefore  it  would  seem  to  be  a  good  business  proposition  for 
publishers  to  exclude  from  the  pages  of  their  house  organs  all 
outside  advertisements.  Otherwise'  they  will  soon  find  that 
their  house  organs  have  lost  their  individuality  and  become  trade 
publications.  The  reason  why  you  issue  a  house  organ  is  that  it 
may  serve  as  your  personal  messenger  to  those  whom  you  desire 
to  influence  favorably,  those  whose  cooperation  and  support 
you  are  anxious  to  enlist.  When  you  open  your  columns  to 
other  advertisers,  even  though  they  may  not  be  competitors, 
you  proportionately  weaken  the  strength  of  your  own  appeal. 

The  importance  of  placing  a  competent  editor  in  charge  of  your 
house  organ  cannot  be  overemphasized.  Don't  entrust  the 
work  to  an  overburdened  clerk  or  a  busy  executive  and  expect 
it  to  succeed.  If  you  have  in  your  employ  a  man  who  you 
think  is  competent  to  fill  the  position,  give  him  all  the  time  and 
help  he  needs  and  let  him  alone.  If  he  fails,  get  someone 
else.  Whoever  he  is,  he  should  have  a  nose  for  news,  possess  a 
sense  of  humor,  and  have  a  good  knowledge  of  the  house  and 
its  business. 

If  you  have  no  one  in  your  employ  who  can  edit  your  publica- 
tion you  can  make  arrangements  with  any  one  of  several  con- 
cerns that  make  a  specialty  of  issuing  house  organs  for 
manufacturers  or  other  business  concerns,  to  bring  out  the 
magazine  for  you. 


232  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Questions 

1.  For  what  purposes  are  house  organs  issued? 

2.  Name  the  oldest  house  organ  and  the  one  having  the  largest  circu- 
lation. 

3.  How  are  house  organs  classified? 

4.  What  are  the  popular  sizes? 

6.  Give  a  comprehensive  definition  of  a  house  organ. 

6.  State  the  experience  of  several  concerns  that  have  been  successful  in 
employing  house  organs. 

7.  Wherein  does  their  value  lie? 

8.  Name  a  house  organ  that  sells  for  $1  a  year. 

8.  What  manufacturer  issues  five  different  house  organs? 

9.  Why  should  the  advertising  of  outside  concerns,  as  a  rule,  be  excluded  ? 

10.  What  would  be  an  appropriate  name  for  a  house  organ  published  by 
a  shoe  manufacturer  for  circulation  among  retailers? 

11.  Prepare  a  dummy  for  a  16-page  house  organ  devoted  to  the  employees 
of  a  large  electric  light  company. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
ADVERTISING  SPECIALTIES 

An  advertising  medium  that  is  rarely  ever  discussed  at  ad- 
vertising club  meetings  or  advertising  association  conventions 
but  which,  nevertheless,  is  extensively  used  by  commercial  con- 
cerns, are  those  advertising  specialties  which  may  be  described  as 
"articles  of  utility  used  to  carry  an  advertising  message." 

The  importance  of  this  medium  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
$30,000,000  a  year  are  invested  in  specialties  which  include  an 
infinite  variety  of  articles  ranging  from  corkscrews  to  balloons 
and  from  buttons  to  cut-out  window  displays.  They  are  made 
of  wood,  glass,  paper,  metal,  leather,  textiles  and  celluloid,  and 
range  in  price  from  a  few  cents  to  $5,  and  even  $10  dollars  each. 
There  are  specialties  for  every  kind  of  business  under  the  sun. 
They  are  used  to  advertise  banks,  locomotive  works  and  life 
insurance  companies,  as  well  as  cigars,  groceries  and  patent 
medicines. 

Specialties  were  first  employed  for  advertising  purposes  in 
1870,  the  earliest  being  a  coin  purse,  a  cigar  case  and  a  comb- 
holder — all  made  of  leather.  This  material,  because  of  its 
adaptability  to  many  purposes,  has  been  one  of  the  most  popular 
among  advertisers.  A  list  of  articles  made  of  leather  that  are 
used  for  advertising  purposes  would  fill  a  page  of  this  book. 
The  number  of  specialty  manufacturers  in  the  United  States  is 
between  500  and  600.  Of  these,  200  belong  to  the  National 
Association  of  Advertising  Specialty  Manufacturers  which  has 
its  headquarters  in  Chicago.  Six  of  them  individually  do  an 
annual  business  of  $1,000,000  or  more.  Three  thousand  sales- 
men are  employed,  then-  average  pay  being  from  $35  to  $50  a 
week.  A  few  experts  earn  from  $15,000  to  $25,000  a  year.  Sell- 
ing specialties  is  an  attractive  occupation  and  offers  excellent 
opportunities  to  ambitious  young  men  who  are  good  salesmen. 

233 


234  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Among  the  questions  that  naturally  suggest  themselves  in  the 
study  of  this  medium  are  these:  How  does  the  appeal  of  special- 
ties differ  from  that  of  the  newspapers  and  magazines?  In  what 
ways  do  they  influence  people?  Are  they  instrumental  in 
making  sales? 

In  Order  to  Know  Why  Advertising  Specialties  Are  Effective 
We  Must  Understand  Human  Nature. — The  fact  that  people 
may  be  influenced  by  gifts  was  known  in  the  earliest  days  of 
civilization.  The  pages  of  history  contain  innumerable  instances 
in  which  presents  were  made  to  win  the  favor  of  those  in  authority 
or  to  express  gratitude  for  services  rendered.  People  are  so 
constituted  that  gifts  appeal  to  them.  To  get  something  for 
nothing  is  the  desire  of  a  majority  of  the  human  race.  While 
presents  of  any  kind  are  acceptable,  provided  they  are  appro- 
priate in  character  and  are  given  in  a  way  that  is  void  of  offense, 
those  that  have  a  utilitarian  value  are  the  more  highly  prized. 

If  You  Want  to  Make  a  Favorable  Impression  upon  the  Average 
Man,  Bestow  upon  Him  an  Article  that  Will  Contribute  to  His 
Comfort,  or  Make  His  Work  Easier,  or  That  Will  Add  to  His 
Enjoyment  of  Life. — It  must  not  be  cheap  in  appearance  and 
should  be  useful,  otherwise  after  a  few  days  it  will  be  given  to 
the  office  boy  or  thrown  in  the  waste  basket.  Business  men  will 
not  clutter  up  their  desks  with  a  lot  of  folderols.  They  would 
never  buy  such  things  themselves  and  do  not  want  them  around. 
Articles  that  serve  a  purpose  are  always  acceptable.  It  may  be 
an  ash  receiver,  a  pocket  cigar  lighter,  or  a  match  safe;  a  pair  of 
shears,  a  ruler,  a  set  of  calendar  blotters;  or  it  may  be  a  pocket 
knife,  a  cigar  holder,  a  bill  fold,  a  coin  purse  or  a  pack  of  playing 
cards. 

When  a  manufacturer  distributes  an  advertising  specialty 
among  his  friends  or  prospective  customers  he  does  not  expect 
that  it  will  perform  the  same  service  as  a  display  advertise- 
ment in  a  newspaper  or  magazine,  for  the  only  reading  matter 
that  can  be  printed  upon  it,  unless  it  is  a  wall  calendar  or  any 
other  article  having  a  large  blank  surface,  will  be  the  name  and 
location  of  his  firm  and  that  of  the  product  or  line  of  goods  he  is 
marketing.  Even  if  there  is  room  for  other  inscriptions  they 
are  usually  omitted,  because  if  more  are  used  the  article  would 


ADVERTISING  SPECIALTIES  235 

have  too  much  the  appearance  of  an  advertisement.  In  special- 
ties the  advertising  must  usually  be  subordinated  to  the  article 
itself,  otherwise  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  intended  will  be 
defeated,  as  the  person  receiving  it  will  be  unwilling  to  carry  it 
around  in  his  pocket  or  have  it  seen  on  his  desk.  The  more 
unobtrusive  the  advertising  message,  the  greater  will  be  his 
readiness  to  accept  and  make  use  of  it. 

//  the  Direct  Object  of  the  Advertising  Specialty  Is  Not  to  Sett 
Goods,  What  Valuable  Service  Does  It  Render? — Perhaps  the  most 
important  of  its  several  uses  are  to  create  good  will  and  supple- 
ment educational  advertising  in  newspapers,  magazines,  catalogs 
and  other  direct-by-mail  mediums.  When  a  dealer  receives 
from  a  manufacturer  an  advertising  gift  that  is  attractive  in 
appearance  and  that  he  can  use  he  is  grateful  to  the  sender. 
This  mental  attitude  makes  him  predisposed  to  entertain  favor- 
ably any  business  proposition  that  may  afterward  be  made  to 
him  by  the  manufacturer  through  letters  or  salesmen.  If  he  is 
not  at  the  time  in  the  market  for  the  article  advertised,  its  name 
and  that  of  the  producer  become  so  impressed  upon  his  mind  that 
when  the  need  of  it  arises  he  will  instinctively  seek  it  from  the 
advertiser. 

Specialties  Are  Helpful  in  Introducing  Salesmen  to  Dealers. 
When  employed  for  this  purpose  they  are  sent  to  the  dealer  a 
few  days  ahead  of  the  salesman's  call  so  that  when  the  latter 
arrives  and  presents  his  card  the  merchant  will  be  much  more 
approachable  and  friendly  than  would  ordinarily  be  the  case 
had  the  way  not  been  prepared  for  him  before  he  arrived. 
Sometimes  the  salesman  presents  the  specialty  during  his  intro- 
ductory call,  which  is  usually  devoted  to  making  the  acquaintance 
of  the  dealer  and  not  to  securing  an  order  from  him.  If  the 
advertising  specialty  and  the  salesman  himself  make  a  favorable 
impression,  the  next  time  the  latter  makes  the  town  he  will  have 
a  fair  chance  to  interest  the  merchant  in  his  goods. 

Specialties  Are  Used  to  Express  to  the  Dealer  in  an  Unobtrusive 
Way  the  Manufacturer's  or  Jobber's  Appreciation  of  His  Patronage. 
Such  articles  are  more  expensive  than  those  distributed  by  the 
merchant  among  the  patrons  of  his  store. 

When  Possible  the  Specialty  Should  Be  Appropriate  to  the  Busi- 


236  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

ness  of  the  Advertiser  or  to  the  Business  or  Occupation  of  the  Recipi- 
ent.— For  instance,  Heinz,  of  the  "57  Varieties"  fame,  adopted  a 
midget  pickle  as  his  trademark  and  gave  away  millions  of  them 
to  be  worn  by  men  as  watch  charms  or  as  stick-pins.  Procter  & 
Gamble  have  distributed  countless  numbers  of  toy  miniature 
bars  of  Ivory  Soap  made  of  white  composition.  Flour  and  baking 
powder  manufacturers  present  to  housewives  measuring  cups, 
biscuit  cutters  and  rolling  pins.  The  Curtis  Publishing  Com- 
pany furnishes  the  newsboys  who  sell  the  Saturday  Evening  Post 
all  over  the  country  well-made  white  cloth  bags,  upon  which  the 
name  of  that  publication  is  displayed  in  large  black  letters. 
Tobacco  manufacturers  find  that  smokers  are  always  glad  to 
receive  cigar  cases,  cigar  holders  and  pocket  match  boxes. 
Clothing  manufacturers  and  dealers  give  away  coat  hangers  and 
moth-proof  bags  in  which  to  hang  winter  garments  during  the 
summer  months.  Before  prohibition  went  into  effect  the  dis- 
tillers of  Gordon  Gin  presented  metal  cocktail  shakers  to  their  cus- 
tomers. The  Orange-Judd  Company,  publishers  of  agricultural 
periodicals,  for  several  years  distributed  canes  at  the  Associated 
Advertising  Club  conventions. 

The  International  Harvester  Company  has  given  county  and 
state  maps  to  farmers  at  county  fairs  to  call  attention  to  their  gas 
engines.  When  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Campany  cele- 
brated its  semi-centennial  it  presented  to  each  of  its  15,000  agents 
a  fine  $4  gold  pencil,  suitably  inscribed.  Libby,  McNeil  & 
Libby,  the  Chicago  packers,  have  used  enamelled  stick-pins  and 
bronze  metal  watch  fobs  to  advertise  their  products.  The 
Remington  Typewriter  Company  has  given  three-color  blotters 
to  buyers.  Swift's  Cottolene  has  been  exploited  by  means  of 
enameled  cuff  buttons,  fans  and  other  specialties. 

A  manufacturer  of  food  products  consumed  in  the  home  selects 
for  distribution  through  the  jobbers  and  grocers  who  handle  them, 
advertising  specialties  that  will  appeal  to  housewives  because  of 
their  usefulness.  The  list  includes,  among  other  articles,  kitchen 
reminders,  egg-timers,  wall  match  safes,  calendars,  wooden 
spoons,  lacquered  trays,  biscuit  cutters,  can  and  bottle  openers, 
cork  screws,  bottle  stoppers,  bundle  handles,  yard  sticks,  tape 
measures,  button  hooks,  pictures  and  novelty  darners. 


ADVERTISING  SPECIALTIES  237 

Sometimes  the  appeal  to  parents  is  made  by  means  of  articles 
that  are  for  the  amusement  or  instruction  of  the  children,  such 
as  alphabet  blocks,  Noah's  Arks,  ball  bats,  toys,  games,  books, 
balloons,  whistles,  caps,  book  straps,  bookmarks,  foot  rulers, 
pencils,  etc. 

Advertising  specialties  may  be  employed  to  produce  direct  and 
immediate  sales,  although,  as  we  have  already  seen,  they  are 
more  frequently  used  to  create  good  will  and  serve  as  reminders. 
In  selecting  articles  for  this  purpose  they  should  be  of  such  size 
and  shape  as  will  permit  the  printing  upon  them  of  an  advertising 
message  that  will  make  people  desire  to  buy  the  product.  When, 
a  few  years  ago,  Marshall  Field  &  Company,  of  Chicago,  estab- 
lished an  office  furniture  department  in  their  store,  they  wanted, 
as  soon  as  possible,  to  bring  it  to  the  attention  of  4,000  firms, 
corporations  and  business  men  who  might  be  interested  in  it. 
The  medium  chosen  was  an  artistic  celluloid-backed  blotter  pad 
containing  three  pieces  of  fine  white  blotting  paper.  The  cellu- 
loid back  was  beautifully  decorated  in  lithographed  colors  and 
bore  a  dignified  announcement  of  the  opening  of  the  new  depart- 
ment. The  letter  with  which  it  was  enclosed  contained  an 
invitation  to  the  recipient  to  visit  the  store  and  inspect  the  office 
furniture.  The  result  of  this  direct  form  of  advertising  was 
gratifying.  Within  a  few  weeks  its  new  department  was  doing 
a  business  that  might  ordinarily  have  taken  months  to  develop. 

Tom  Murray,  one  of  Chicago's  best-known,  because  best- 
advertised,  outfitters  for  men,  distributed  thousands  of  celluloid 
pocket  mirrors,  on  the  back  of  which  his  trademark — a  picture  of 
the  back  of  his  own  head — appeared.  The  inscriptions  "Meet 
Me  Face  to  Face"  and  "The  Other  Side  Not  So  Bad"  made 
people  laugh.  In  commenting  upon  it  Mr.  Murray  said,  "  When 
they  smile  you  have  got  their  trade  coming." 

Banks  and  trust  companies  are  among  the  largest  users  of 
advertising  specialties,  their  average  investment  being  from 
$3,000  to  $5,000  a  year  each.  A  large  part  of  their  appropriation 
for  this  medium  is  expended  for  calendars  that  are  fine  examples 
of  the  lithographer's  art.  Other  articles  distributed  by  banks 
are  pocket  diaries  and  memorandum  books,  desk  calendar  pads, 
pencils,  peoholders,  pocket  books,  coin  banks,  and  bill  folds. 


238  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

How  Specialties  Are  Distributed. — Gifts  employed  for  ad- 
vertising purposes  are  distributed  in  various  ways.  They  are 
given  out  personally  at  business  conventions,  reunions,  exposi- 
tions, county  fairs.  They  are  sent  by  mail,  by  parcel  post  or 
by  express.  They  are  sometimes  packed  with  shipments  of 
goods.  Salesmen  deliver  them  when  making  the  rounds  of  their 
customers.  It  is  not  unusual  for  manufacturers  or  jobbers  to 
make  a  cooperative  arrangement  with  the  dealers  under  which 
the  expense  of  distribution  is  divided  between  them.  Some- 
times they  are  given  as  premiums  for  the  return  of  a  cer- 
tain number  of  labels  or  coupons  clipped  from  newspaper 
advertisements. 

The  method  of  distribution  should  be  selected  with  considerable 
care  in  order  to  avoid  unnecessary  waste  and  expense.  If  the 
article  is  to  be  sent  by  mail  should  it  be  under  first-  or  third-class 
postal  rates?  If  the  article  is  small  and  is  to  be  accompanied  by 
a  letter  a  sealed  envelope  bearing  a  2-cent  stamp  is  necessary. 
Bulky  articles  should  be  sent  by  parcel  post.  Some  concerns 
send  the  specialties  only  upon  receipt  of  a  request  from  those 
who  have  seen  the  offer  made  in  periodical  or  newspaper  ad- 
vertisements. This  method  has  much  to  recommend  it  from 
an  economical  viewpoint  although  it  is  certain  to  be  taken  ad- 
vantage of  by  persons  who  write  out  of  curiosity  rather  than 
because  of  any  interest  they  may  have  in  the  advertised  product. 
Another  way  of  effecting  distribution  is  to  ask  people  to  call  for 
the  specialty  at  the  store  where  the  merchandise  is  on  sale. 

It  is  not  unusual  for  a  manufacturer  who  is  a  national  adver- 
tiser to  make  a  charge  for  his  advertising  specialty.  The 
makers  of  Pompeian  Cream,  Cleveland,  have  for  several  years 
sold  their  advertising  art  calendar.  This  plan  was  adopted  to 
cut  down  the  heavy  cost  of  production  and  to  ensure  the  preserva- 
tion and  display  of  the  calendar  by  those  who  receive  it. 

Large  and  small  advertisers  use  outdoor  signs  which  are  made 
by  manufacturers  of  specialties.  They  are  made  of  metal,  cloth, 
fiber,  glass,  vitrolite,  wood  and  enamel.  The  lithographed  steel 
art  signs  printed  in  colors  will  last  four  or  five  years.  They  are 
extensively  used  by  the  makers  of  Coca-Cola,  soda  and  other 
beverages,  and  by  baking  powder,  flour,  hardware  and  numerous 


ADVERTISING  SPECIALTIES  239 

other  manufacturers.  One  company's  order  for  a  single  season 
amounted  to  fifty  carloads.  Cloth  signs  are  short-lived,  six 
months  being  about  the  limit.  If  the  product  to  be  advertised 
is  one  the  sale  of  which  is  confined  to  a  few  months  in  the  year, 
cloth  signs  might  be  used  to  advantage.  It  should  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  it  costs  just  as  much  to  put  up  a  cloth  as  a 
metal  sign.  Cloth  is  a  much  cheaper  material  to  use  than 
metal,  but  it  is,  of  course,  far  less  durable.  If  the  product  is  well 
distributed  and  is  sold  the  year  round  the  metal  sign  is  to  be 
preferred  above  all  others. 

A  form  of  specialty  advertising  that  always  attracts  attention 
is  the  electric  flashlight,  transparent  window  or  counter  display 
signs.  They  are  usually  operated  mechanically  by  clockwork. 
The  more  elaborate  are  loaned  by  the  manufacturer  to  the  dealer 
for  one  or  two  weeks  at  a  time.  These  signs  present  scenes  or 
pictures  which  are  linked  up  to  the  product  in  some  direct  way 
that  will  be  suggestive  and  impressive. 

Other  specialties  extensively  employed  for  advertising  pur- 
poses are  colored  pictures  stamped  out  of  metal;  decalcomania, 
to  be  pasted  upon  dealer's  windows;  cut-outs,  often  arranged 
like  the  scenery  of  a  theater,  that  present  pictures  of  articles  or 
persons  so  faithfully  that  they  are  mistaken  for  the  moment  for 
the  real  thing;  and  kites,  carrying  advertising  streamers  or  other 
advertising  displays,  that  are  sent  up  in  thickly  populated  or 
congested  business  sections  of  a  city.  Decorative  designs, 
arranged  to  fill  an  entire  window  and  serve  as  a  frame  or  back- 
ground for  artistic  displays  of  the  merchandise  that  is  being  ad- 
vertised, are  furnished  by  a  number  of  the  larger  manufacturers 
of  popular  articles  of  consumption.  For  instance,  the  Loose- 
Wiles  3jnd  the  National  Biscuit  Companies  supply  metal  stands 
to  grocers  for  displaying  their  products. 

Because  of  the  wide  variety  of  advertising  specialties  the 
manufacturer  or  dealer  should  have  no  difficulty  in  selecting 
one  that  is  appropriate  to  his  product  and  that  will  be  reasonable 
in  cost. 

A  classified  business  directory  will  furnish  you  the  names  of 
firms  that  make  advertising  specialties.  If  such  a  directory  is 
not  available  a  list  can  be  obtained  on  application  to  any  one 


240  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

of  the  publications  devoted  to  the  advertising  field  or  by  writing 
to  the  National  Association  of  Advertising  Specialty  Manu- 
facturers, Chicago. 

Questions 

1.  What  are  advertising  specialties? 

2.  Of  what  materials  are  they  made? 

3.  How  much  money  is  invested  in  them  annually? 

4.  How  many  manufacturers  of  specialties  are  there  in  the  United 
States? 

5.  What  is  the  name  of  their  national  organization? 

6.  What  is  the  psychological  effect  of  a  gift? 

7.  For  what  purposes  are  advertising  specialties  employed? 

8.  What  principle  should  you  observe  in  selecting  a  specialty? 

9.  What  specialty  has  been  exclusively  employed  by  Heinz  57  Varieties? 
By  Procter  &  Gamble?     By  the  Orange- Judd  Company?    By  the  Inter- 
national Harvester  Company? 

10.  What  specialties  would  you  recommend  food  manufacturers  to  use? 

11.  Give  the  experience  of  Marshall  Field  &  Company  in  introducing  a 
new  department  in  its  Chicago  store  through  the  use  of  a  specialty? 

12.  Enumerate  the  ways  in  which  specialties  are  distributed? 

13.  What  about  the  use  of  electric  flashlight  signs  and  window  displays? 

14.  What  specialty  would  you  use  in  advertising  a  stationery  store?    A 
millinery  establishment?    A  hotel? 


CHAPTER  XXII 
MOTION  PICTURE  ADVERTISING 

The  latest,  and  by  many  large  distributors  of  merchandise 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  important  advertising  mediums,  is 
the  motion  picture.  The  popularity  of  motion  pictures  as  a 
form  of  entertainment  or  for  educational  purposes  is  attested 
by  the  statement  that  there  are  14,000  theaters  in  the  United 
States  devoted  to  their  presentation,  with  daily  audiences 
aggregating  14,000,000  persons,  or  over  5,000,000,000  a  year.  The 
possibility  of  placing  an  advertisement  of  any  kind  before  an 
audience  of  this  vast  size  strongly  appeals  to  the  imagination  of 
merchants  and  manufacturers  with  products  to  sell.  It  was  only 
a  short  time  ago  that  the  motion  picture  producers  awoke  to  its 
value  as  an  advertising  medium  and  introduced  "industrial" 
pictures,  as  distinguished  from  film  plays  and  other  forms  of 
screen  entertainment.  This  term  was  doubtless  given  them 
because  the  first  advertising  productions  exploited  industrial 
enterprises. 

The  Appeal  of  the  Motion  Picture  Is  Universal. — Young  and 
old,  rich  and  poor,  and  the  educated  and  uneducated,  no  matter 
what  their  nationality  may  be,  are  susceptible  to  its  charm 
and  influence.  It  speaks  in  all  languages  and,  although  a  man 
may  not  be  able  to  read  or  write,  if  he  possesses  intelligence  he 
can  interpret  the  message  of  the  screen  picture.  Educated 
people,  however,  have  this  advantage — they  see  more  because 
they  have  developed  the  ability  to  reason  things  out  and  can 
discover  hidden  beauties  in  the  pictures  that  are  not  revealed 
to  the  untrained  mind.  Many  persons  with  plenty  of  money  to 
buy  things,  but  who  never  read  the  magazines  and  therefore  never 
see  the  advertisements  they  contain,  attend  the  moving  picture 
theaters. 

Before  the  alphabet  was  invented  the  only  way  the  ancients 
16  241 


242  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

had  of  recording  events  was  by  means  of  crude  pictures  carved 
or  painted  upon  the  walls  of  tombs,  public  buildings  or  upon  clay 
tablets  or  monuments.  These  hieroglyphics,  as  they  are  called, 
are  now  read  by  language  experts  who  have  mastered  the  subject 
almost  as  easily  as  by  the  men  who  made  them  thousands  of  years 
ago.  Pictures  have  been  employed  in  all  ages  to  express  ideas. 
With  the  development  of  art  has  come  increased  power  of  inter- 
pretation. The  invention  of  the  motion  picture  has  made 
possible  the  presentation  of  action — the  endowing  of  objects 
with  life,  so  that  the  spectator  sees  them  just  as  they  are. 

Lantern  slides  have  been  employed  for  years  to  present 
advertising  messages  to  audiences,  but  they  possess  no  special 
advantages  over  ordinary  mediums  except  those  derived  from 
the  use  of  light  and  color.  It  is  one  thing,  however,  to  see  still 
pictures  showing  the  successive  steps  in  the  making  of  steel,  for 
instance,  and  quite  another  to  see  in  a  motion  picture  the  work 
carried  on  before  your  very  eyes.  The  pouring  of  the  molten 
metal  with  its  starlike,  flying  sparks,  the  heating  and  annealing 
of  the  steel  ingots,  their  passage  through  the  great  rolling  ma- 
chines and  their  shaping  into  steel  rails,  beams  and  hundreds  of 
other  steel  products,  are  shown  almost  as  realistically  as  they 
would  appear  to  the  person  who  actually  visited  the  steel  works 
and  saw  the  processes  carried  on  before  him. 

The  advantages  of  motion  picture  advertising,  as  set  forth  by 
its  advocates,  are  as  follows: 

1.  Through  motion  pictures  the  advertiser  is  able  to  show  his 
product  in  actual  use  under  the  most  favorable  conditions  and  thus 
create  in  the  minds  of  the  spectators  an  earnest,  compelling 
desire  to  possess  it. 

2.  The  details  of  manufacturing  processes  that  give  to  the  article 
special  value  can  be  set  forth  in  such  a  way  that  the  consumer  can 
understand  their  significance. 

3.  Motion  picture  advertising  is  presented  under  ideal  conditions. 
In  the  darkened  theater  the  attention  of  the  audience  is  centered 
upon  the  brilliantly  lighted  screen  upon  which  the  pictures 
appear,  as  it  is  the  only  thing  that  can  be  seen.     The  spectators 
are  in  a  receptive  mood.     They  are  there  to  be  entertained  or 
instructed.     When  they  enter  the  theater  they  leave  business 


MOTION  PICTURE  ADVERTISING  243 

and  household  cares  behind  and,  with  open  minds,  are  ready  to 
receive  impressions  from  the  film  productions. 

4.  Motion  pictures  may  be  employed  to  promote  dealer  coopera- 
tion.    The  exploitation  of  any  article  the  retailer  has  on  sale  in 
his   store   appeals  to  his  self-interest  and  to  his  pride.     The 
novelty  of  such  advertising,  the  fact  that  a  large  number  of  his 
customers  will  see  it,  and  be  favorably  influenced  by  it,  will 
arouse    in  him  a  desire  to  take  advantage  of  the  publicity  and 
push  the  sales  of  the  article. 

5.  The   advertiser  can  use  as  many  or  as  few  theaters  for  the 
display  of  his  moving  picture  advertisement  as  he  may  desire.     He 
can  select  the  class  of  people  to  whom  his  appeal  is  to  be  made  by 
choosing  the  theaters  they  patronize. 

6.  Motion  pictures  may  be  so  constructed  that  they  will  contain 
all  the  features  of  good  advertising  copy  and  at  the  same  time  give 
a  demonstration  of  the  product. 

7.  Motion  picture  advertising  can  precede,  accompany  or  follow 
an  intensive  selling  campaign  in  selected  territory.     Its  adapta- 
bility to  the  needs  of  the  advertiser  is  one  of  its  strongest  features. 

8.  Motion  pictures  are  effective  in  teaching  salesmen  the  selling 
methods  and  the  business  policies  of  the  firm  they  represent,  in 
acquainting  them  with  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  the 
products,  and  in  showing  the  features  of  advertising  campaigns 
that  are  to  be  launched. 

Copy-writers  occasionally  have  difficulty  in  describing  an 
article  or  a  process  in  language  that  will  convey  the  same  im- 
pression to  all  readers.  Some  will  "get"  the  intended  message, 
others  will  not.  In  motion  picture  advertising  there  is  little 
danger  that  anyone  in  the  audience  will  fail  to  understand  what 
is  meant,  because  the  message  is  presented  in  picture  form. 

Valuable  in  Selling  Goods  in  South  America. — J.  B.  Benson, 
advertising  manager  of  the  Advance  Rumely  Thresher  Com- 
pany, who  resided  in  South  America  for  several  years,  in  dis- 
cussing the  use  of  motion  picture  advertising  in  selling  goods  in 
the  Latin  countries,  says: 

"Down  in  South  America  it  takes  a  week  or  ten  days  before  you 
can  begin  to  talk  business  to  a  merchant.  He  is  not  accustomed  to 


244  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

the  sudden-attack  method  of  American  salesmen  and  don't  like  it. 
He  wants  to  get  acquainted  with  the  salesman  first,  perhaps  lunch 
or  dine  with  him,  before  he  is  ready  to  listen  to  his  sales  story. 
Most  of  the  merchants  you  approach  may  be  unacquainted  with 
your  house  or  its  products.  Hence  they  want  a  lot  of  information 
about  them.  By  the  aid  of  motion  pictures  you  can  present  this  in- 
formation more  convincingly  than  in  any  other  way.  Pictures  do 
not  lie  about  the  size  of  your  factory  or  the  character  of  your  product. 
After  about  two  weeks  of  calling,  and  lunching,  and  driving,  you  will 
be  permitted  to  bring  your  suit-case  projection  machine  to  a  mer- 
chant's office  and  show  him  a  reel  or  two  of  films  describing  your 
product  and  its  manufacture. 

"You  can  tell  a  man  your  story  through  the  mail,  but  I  would  like  to 
see  anybody  write  enough  letters  to  transport  an  entire  factory  over  the 
sea  to  distant  lands.  With  motion  pictures  you  can  unload  the  factory, 
the  executives  at  the  head  of  it,  the  sales-force  backing  it  up,  the  whole 
works,  in  a  buyer's  office  thousands  of  miles  away." 

How  They  Are  Constructed. — Motion  picture  advertising 
films  are  constructed  in  the  same  way  as  the  play  feature  produc- 
tions. The  plants  of  the  principal  companies  engaged  in  the 
business  represent  an  investment  of  millions  of  dollars  in  scenery, 
costumes  and  other  accessories.  Hundreds  and  sometimes  a 
thousand  or  more  actors  and  supernumeraries  are  required  in  the 
preparation  of  a  film  play.  In  making  industrial  films  the  entire 
resources  of  these  great  organizations  are  available  to  the  ad- 
vertiser in  presenting  his  selling  story. 

The  method  of  procedure  in  the  preparation  of  a  motion 
picture  advertising  campaign  is  as  follows :  When  the  advertiser 
has  decided  upon  its  size  and  character,  after  several  interviews 
with  the  representative  of  the  film  manufacturing  company, 
and  has  signed  a  contract  covering  the  period  during  which 
the  picture  is  to  be  shown,  a  careful  study  of  the  advertiser's 
business  is  made  by  the  company's  experts  to  ascertain  how  its 
important  features  can  best  be  presented  on  the  screen  in  picture 
form.  When  this  point  has  been  satisfactorily  settled  experi- 
enced writers  are  called  upon  to  prepare  the  scenario,  and  when 
that  is  completed  to  every  body's  satisfaction,  then  the  actual 
work  of  making  the  picture  begins.  This  calls  into  service  a 


MOTION  PICTURE  ADVERTISING  245 

large  production  staff — the  assistance  of  as  many  skilled  actors 
and  actresses  as  are  needed  to  provide  the  personnel,  and  the 
resources  of  a  studio  that  is  equipped  with  every  conceivable 
device  and  accessory  for  making  the  right  kind  of  film  pictures. 

Advertisers  who  have  used  film  productions  assert  that  the 
most  effective  are  those  presented  in  the  form  of  a  play.  People 
like  stories,  written  or  pictured,  better  than  they  do  a  series  of 
disconnected  scenes  in  which  the  human  element  is  lacking. 
The  presence  of  heart  interest  has  much  to  do  with  the  success 
of  a  screen  picture. 

Must  Be  Entertaining. — An  advertising  film  must  be  entertain- 
ing as  well  as  interesting  and  should  not  in  any  way  offend  the 
motion  picture  lover's  sense  of  what  is  appropriate  and  what  is 
not.  In  other  words,  while  it  presents  your  business  proposition 
just  as  you  want  it  to,  it  must  do  so  in  an  unobtrusive  but 
suggestive  way  to  secure  the  best  results.  This  requires  experi- 
ence and  skill,  and  the  intimate  knowledge  of  theater  requirements 
which  those  who  are  engaged  in  the  production  of  motion  pictures 
possess. 

A  good  example  of  an  advertising  film  play  is  "  Straight  Goods," 
which  has  been  shown  in  many  moving  picture  theaters  in 
different  parts  of  the  country.  It  tells  the  story  of  a  young 
husband  who  has  presented  his  bride  with  a  box  of  Holmes  & 
Edwards  silver.  When  she  finds  that  the  tableware  is  not  solid 
silver  she  expresses  her  disappointment  in  a  way  that  discon- 
certs him.  Later  in  the  evening  a  burglar  is  caught  in  the  act 
of  stealing  it.  The  young  wife  asks  him  why  he  wanted  to 
carry  away  a  box  of  silver  that  was  not  solid  silver.  His  reply 
was  that  inlaid  silver  is  just  as  good  as  solid  silver.  He  then 
goes  on  to  tell  her  how  the  Holmes  &  Edwards  silver  is  made. 
Simultaneously  the  audience  is  taken  through  the  factory  of  the 
manufacturers  where  the  several  processes  in  the  production  of 
silverware  are  plainly  shown.  The  principal  selling  point 
brought  out  is  that  the  parts  upon  which  the  heaviest  wear  comes 
are  inlaid  with  solid  silver.  The  gentleman  burglar  finally 
makes  his  escape.  Throughout  the  picture  the  dramatic  interest 
is  well  sustained  and  the  climax  comes  with  a  gratifying  surprise 
ending  that  pleases  the  spectators. 


246  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

"Careless  America,"  made  for  the  Firestone  Tire  &  Rubber 
Company,  is  a  different  type  of  a  picture.  Its  object  is  to  call 
public  attention  to  the  evils  of  reckless  automobile  driving  in 
such  a  vivid  way  that  after  seeing  the  production  people  will 
take  greater  care  in  the  management  of  their  cars.  The  lessons 
taught  by  this  cleverly  constructed  motion  picture  were  so 
impressive  and  so  valuable  that  in  many  cities  it  was  shown  under 
the  auspices  of  Chambers  of  Commerce,  Automobile  Clubs,  and 
city  officials.  It  is  said  to  be  the  first  advertising  film  for  which 
national  distribution  was  attempted.  It  has  never  been  shown, 
however,  in  a  city  where  there  was  no  Firestone  dealer.  "  Care- 
less America"  was  exhibited  in  430  Chicago  theaters.  Another 
Firestone  picture,  "Over  the  Roads  of  War,"  a  war  film,  was 
shown  in  1,973  towns  in  New  England. 

The  International  Correspondence  Schools,  of  Scranton,  Pa., 
put  out  a  story  film  entitled  "Heads  Win,"  designed  to  awaken 
interest  in  its  educational  courses,  which  has  attracted  much 
attention. 

The  White  Company,  of  Cleveland,  manufacturers  of  White 
Trucks,  found  "  The  Open  Road  to  Greater  America  "  an  excellent 
medium  through  which  to  arouse  a  greater  public  interest  in  the 
development  of  national  highways  and  the  promotion  of  high- 
way transportation  systems. 

Other  national  advertisers  that  have  employed  motion  pictures 
in  their  advertising  campaigns  are  the  United  States  Rubber 
Company,  the  National  Cash  Register  Company,  the  Winchester 
Repeating  Arms  Company,  the  B.  F.  Goodrich  Company,  the 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company,  and  the 
H.  Black  Company,  of  Cleveland,  manufacturers  of  Wooltex. 

Paving  the  Way  for  the  Film  Pictures. — In  a  motion  picture 
advertising  campaign  the  film  is  not  expected  to  do  all  of  the 
work.  Thirty  days  before  the  date  of  its  appearance  at  a  theater 
a  letter  is  sent  to  all  the  dealers  in  town  who  handle  the  mer- 
chandise notifying  them  that  the  play  is  to  be  presented,  also 
a  booklet  giving  plans  for  the  tie-up,  and  urging  them  to  co- 
operate in  making  this  event  a  success.  It  is  suggested  that,  if 
they  do  not  have  sufficient  stock  on  hand  to  make  an  adequate 
display,  they  place  an  order  at  once.  Two  weeks  before 


MOTION  PICTURE  ADVERTISING  247 

the  date  of  the  play's  presentation  the  dealer  is  given  the  name  of 
the  theater  or  theaters  in  which  it  is  to  be  shown.  Advertising 
matter  consisting  of  window  picture  cards,  illustrated  circulars 
for  distribution  among  customers  and  electrotypes  for  newspaper 
advertisements,  are  furnished  at  the  same  time.  The  theater 
manager  receives  from  the  film  company  one-sheet  lithograph 
posters,  a  set  of  8  lobby  photographs,  8  X  10  hi.  in  size,  and  a 
lantern  slide  announcing  the  coming  of  the  play,  which  is  to  be 
run  at  the  exhibitor's  expense  for  the  week  preceding  the  opening. 

If  the  advertising  aids  are  properly  used  public  interest  in  the 
forthcoming  picture  can  be  so  thoroughly  aroused  that  large 
audiences  will  fill  the  theater  during  the  period  of  its  presenta- 
tion. Sometimes  the.  local  dealers  buy  blocks  of  tickets  at  a 
reduced  price  and  present  them  to  their  regular  customers  with 
their  compliments.  In  other  cases  the  tickets  are  given  as 
premiums  to  those  whose  purchases  amount  to  a  certain  sum. 

In  selecting  the  theaters  it  is  desirable  to  choose  those  nearest 
the  stores  in  which  the  advertised  article  is  on  sale.  The  dealers, 
who  have  also  been  supplied  with  their  own  advertising  matter, 
make  special  displays  that  people  will  see  in  going  to  and  from 
the  theater  while  the  play  is  on.  In  this  way  they  are  able  to 
cash  in  on  any  demand  that  may  be  created  by  the  picture. 

National  advertisers  who  have  given  motion  pictures  a 
thorough  trial  appear  to  be  well  satisfied  with  the  results  they 
have  secured  through  this  new  medium.  One  large  distributor  of 
automobile  tires  was  so  much  pleased  with  the  first  production 
made  for  him  that  he  afterward  ordered  eleven  more. 

Can  Results  in  Motion  Picture  Advertising  Be  Traced? — The 
advertising  manager  of  Holmes  &  Edwards  states  that  when 
letters  were  sent  to  dealers  notifying  them  that  the  "Straight 
Goods"  film  was  to  be  shown  in  local  theaters  19  per  cent,  placed 
orders  for  silverware  to  take  advantage  of  the  demand  that  it 
was  expected  the  play  would  create,  and  39  per  cent,  asked  for 
advertising  matter  to  use  in  connection  with  its  appearance. 
The  first  month  the  film  was  shown  the  firm  received  $7,500 
worth  of  orders  that  were  directly  traceable  to  it.  "  Considering 
the  cost  of  the  campaign,"  says  the  advertising  manager,  "we 
received  in  results  $3  for  every  $1  we  put  into  it." 


248  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Quite  a  number  of  the  most  important  manufactures  now 
make  a  regular  appropriation  for  motion  picture  advertising. 
The  film  companies  charge  an  average  of  $5  per  day  per 
theater  for  this  service.  The  number  of  reels  employed  in 
covering  the  territory  scheduled  depends  upon  the  time  allowed 
for  the  campaign.  A  single  film  cannot  be  shown  in  more  than 
four  or  five  cities  a  week,  owing  to  the  distances  they  must  travel 
even  when  shipped  from  district  exchanges. 

Questions 

1.  In  what  way  does  the  motion  picture  differ  in  its  appeal  from  other 
forms  of  advertising? 

2.  Enumerate  the  principal  advantages  of  this  kind  of  advertising. 

3.  Why  ia  an  advertising  film  certain  to  receive  attention? 

4.  How  can  motion  picture  advertising  be  used  to  advantage  in  increas- 
ing the  efficiency  of  salesmen? 

6.  How  can  it  be  used  in  selling  goods  in  foreign  countries? 

6.  What  method  is  pursued  in  the  preparation  of  an  industrial  picture? 

7.  From  the  spectators'  viewpoint  what  quality  must  the  film  play  have? 

8.  Give  the  names  of  any  advertising  motion  pictures  you  have  seen. 

9.  Describe  just  what  is  done  to  arouse  interest  in  a  film  production  and 
how  the  cooperation  of  local  stores  is  secured. 

10.  Can  direct  results  be  traced  ?    Give  an  example. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
DUTIES  OF  THE  ADVERTISING  MANAGER 

The  person  who  has  charge  of  the  advertising  of  a  retail  or 
wholesale  business,  or  of  a  publication,  is  known  as  the  advertis- 
ing manager.  His  duties  vary  with  the  character  and  size  of 
the  concern  by  which  he  is  employed. 

The  advertising  manger  of  the  smaller  retail  store  is  usually 
the  owner,  the  manager,  or  a  clerk  who  devotes  only  a  part  of  his 
time  to  the  duties  of  the  position.  He  prepares  the  advertise- 
ments that  appear  in  the  local  newspapers  and  the  letters  and 
circulars  that  are  mailed  to  customers  calling  their  attention  to 
special  sales,  openings,  anniversaries,  etc.  He  also  looks  after 
the  dressing  of  the  store  windows,  often  doing  the  work 
himself. 

The  advertising  manager  of  a  department  store,  which  may  be 
described  as  a  store  in  which  a  number  of  different  lines  of  business 
are  grouped  under  one  roof  and  a  single  ownership,  occupies  a 
much  more  important  position.  He  has  from  four  to  a  dozen 
assistants,  including  copy- writers,  artists  and  stenographers.  He 
is  clothed  with  greater  authority  than  is  given  to  the  heads  of 
other  departments.  While  he  virtually  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  management  of  the  store  his  advertising  directs  and  reflects 
its  policies.  He  takes  part  in  the  conferences  of  the  executives 
that  are  held  from  tune  to  time  to  discuss  important  matters 
connected  with  the  business.  In  these  store  councils  he  repre- 
sents the  public,  for  it  is  his  duty  to  keep  informed  as  to  its 
attitude  toward  the  store  and  its  merchandise. 

Upon  his  efforts  depends,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  success 
of  the  business,  and  if,  for  any  reason,  the  advertising  produced 
by  his  department  does  not  bring  the  public  to  the  store  and  sell 
goods  he  will  soon  be  looking  for  another  position. 

He  must  not  only  be  an  expert  in  all  kinds  of  retail  advertising 

249 


250  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

but  he  must  also  possess  an  accurate  knowledge  of  merchandise 
and  of  salesmanship.  It  is  his  duty  to  keep  watch  of  the  sales 
of  every  department.  If  the  goods  are  not  moving  as  fast  as 
they  should  he  must  devise  ways  and  means  for  making  them 
move.  In  apportioning  the  space  in  the  daily  advertisements 
of  the  store  among  the  several  departments  he  must  exercise 
tact  and  good  judgment.  The  managers  of  all  departments  want 
their  goods  exploited  every  day,  an  evident  impossibility.  In 
their  eagerness  to  get  space  they  sometimes  misrepresent  the 
quality  of  the  merchandise  they  want  advertised.  If  the  ad- 
vertising manager  is  not  posted  on  values  he  will  get  into  all 
kinds  of  trouble.  Should  he  give  considerable  space  to  a  few 
of  the  departments  he  will  incur  the  enmity  of  the  others,  who  see 
in  the  act  a  deliberate  attempt  to  boost  the  sales  of  those  depart- 
ments at  their  expense. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  advertising  manager  has  had 
merchandising  experience  he  knows  to  what  departments  the 
space  should  be  allotted,  after  listening  to  their  claims,  and  his 
decisions  are  respected. 

Moreover,  one  of  his  most  important  functions  is  to  see  that 
the  public  is  not  deceived  by  the  store's  advertising.  If  values 
are  misrepresented  and  attempts  are  made  to  palm  off  "seconds" 
as  first-class  goods,  people  will  soon  discover  the  fact  and  lose 
confidence  in  the  store.  In  every  line  of  copy  the  right  kind  of 
an  advertising  manager  seeks  to  maintain  and  add  to  the  firm's 
reputation  for  reliability  and  square  dealing.  To  him  the  good 
will  of  the  public  is  invaluable  and  must  be  won  and  retained  at 
any  cost. 

Besides  keeping  an  eye  on  the  sales  barometer,  studying  public 
taste  in  merchandise,  making  suggestions  that  will  increase  the 
popularity  of  the  establishment  and  move  off  the  shelves  goods 
that  have  a  slow  sale,  the  department  store  advertising  manager 
furnishes  pep  and  enthusiasm  to  the  big  staff  of  employees.  If 
the  sales  of  a  department  fall  off  he  evolves  a  plan  to  stimulate 
them  and  gets  the  clerks  to  pitch  in  and  score  a  success.  If 
the  employees  have  a  dance  or  an  entertainment  he  takes  good 
care  that  the  newspapers  are  told  about  it  and  that  a  report  of 
the  affair  is  printed  by  them  the  next  day. 


251 

In  preparing  advertisements  he  puts  into  them  the  real  news  of 
the  store — the  things  that  the  public  likes  to  know  about.  In 
collecting  this  news  he  resembles  the  city  editor  of  a  newspaper, 
assigning  to  the  several  members  of  his  staff,  acting  as  reporters, 
the  subjects  upon  which  they  are  to  write  and  telling  them  where 
they  can  get  the  material.  In  these  great  stores  that  sell  many 
different  kinds  of  merchandise,  brought  together  from  all  quarters 
of  the  globe,  there  is  to  be  found  data  for  an  endless  number  of 
interesting  stories  that  can  be  used  to  arouse  public  interest. 

John  Wanamaker's  is  a  good  example  of  live  store  news 
advertising.  It  is  full  of  variety,  is  never  dull,  and  is  worth 
reading  whether  you  want  to  buy  anything  or  not.  There  is 
always  something  worth  while  to  talk  about  in  every  big  store. 
If  you  can  get  people  so  thoroughly  interested  in  your  advertise- 
ments that  they  will  look  for  them  every  day  when  they  read 
their  favorite  paper,  just  as  they  do  for  the  news  of  the  city  or 
country,  you  can  bank  upon  the  hearty  support  they  will  give 
the  store. 

National  Advertising  Manager. — If  the  business  is  large, 
covering  the  country,  he  has  a  staff  of  assistants  to  prepare  the 
various  kinds  of  copy  that  must  be  produced.  In  retail  adver- 
tising, as  we  have  already  seen,  the  mediums  used  are  few  in 
number,  and  include  daily  and  weekly  newspapers,  street 
cars,  electric  light  signs  and  occasionally  letters  and  circulars. 
National  advertising  calls  for  the  employment  not  only  of  these 
mediums,  but  also  of  magazines,  trade  and  class  publications, 
posters,  booklets,  electric  light  displays,  specialties  and  moving 
pictures.  Some  of  the  large  distributors  of  merchandise  use 
them  all.  To  prepare  effective  advertisements  for  each  of  these 
different  mediums  requires  superior  advertising  ability. 

The  Duties  of  the  Advertising  Manager  of  a  Wholesale  Business 
Are  Numerous  and  Exacting. — He  plans  and  carries  out  national 
advertising  campaigns.  He  is  responsible  for  the  advertising 
copy,  selects  the  mediums,  makes  contracts  with  newspaper 
and  magazine  publishers  for  advertising  space,  furnishes  cuts 
or  mats  of  advertisements  for  the  use  of  retail  dealers,  prepares 
window  displays,  directs  the  activities  of  sampling  crews  and 
demonstrators  in  various  cities,  gets  up  special  articles  for 


252  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

magazines  and  newspapers  about  the  welfare  work  carried  on 
for  the  benefit  of  the  employees  in  the  mills  and  factories  of  the 
company,  conducts  house  organs,  and  produces  booklets,  folders, 
letters  and  broadsides  for  direct  advertising  campaigns. 

Because  the  work  of  the  advertising  manager  and  the  sales 
manager  is  directed  toward  the  same  end — the  sale  of  merchan- 
dise— and  because  of  their  close  relationship  to  each  other,  there 
has  of  late  developed  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  some  concerns  to 
combine  the  duties  of  the  two  positions  in  one  person,  in  which 
case  the  advertising  manager  discharges  the  duties  of  a  sales 
manager,  or  vice  versa.  Although  such  an  arrangement  may 
work  satisfactorily  in  a  small-sized  business  it  is  almost  certain 
to  fail  when  applied  to  a  large  and  important  business.  While  it 
is  always  desirable  that  the  advertising  manager  should  have  a 
practical  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  salesmanship  and  that 
the  sales  manager  should  know  something  about  advertising, 
there  are  very  few  men  who  can  handle  both  departments 
successfully. 

An  expert  knowledge  of  advertising  or  of  salesmanship  cannot 
be  acquired  in  a  few  months.  In  fact,  it  takes  several  years  to 
develop  a  first-class  advertising  or  sales  manager.  Constant 
changes  are  taking  place  in  advertising  methods  and  practice, 
and  to  keep  up  with  them  the  advertising  manager  must  be 
ever  on  the  alert.  If  he  is  entrusted  with  the  grave  responsibility 
of  investing  one  or  two  million  dollars  a  year  in  advertising,  he  has 
no  time  to  devote  to  other  matters  connected  with  the  business. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  sales  manager  who  has  charge  of  from 
forty  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  traveling  salesmen  is  too  busy  to 
plan  advertising  campaigns. 

When  a  Manufacturer  Places  His  Advertising  Account  in  the 
Hands  of  an  Advertising  Agent  He  Still  Needs  the  Services  of  an 
Advertising  Manager. — While  the  greater  part  of  the  work  inci- 
dental to  an  advertising  campaign  is  taken  over  by  the  agent, 
the  advertising  manager  has  a  most  important  function  to  per- 
form. To  the  public  he  represents  the  firm  or  company  in  all 
its  advertising  activities.  He  knows  more  about  its  business,  its 
policies,  its  management  and  its  goods  than  any  agent  that 
could  be  employed. 


DUTIES  OF  THE  ADVERTISING  MANAGER  253 

The  agent  recognizes  his  value  and  is  more  than  anxious  to 
have  his  help  in  carrying  out  the  firm's  advertising  plans.  Some- 
times a  wholesale  concern  prepares  its  own  advertising  copy  and 
turns  it  over  to  the  agent  to  place  in  a  selected  list  of  mediums, 
in  which  case  a  well-organized  advertising  department  must  be 
maintained.  When,  on  the  other  hand,  the  copy  is  written  and 
most  of  the  work  of  the  campaign  is  done  by  the  advertising  agent, 
a  large  advertising  staff  is  unnecessary. 

In  order  to  do  his  best  work  the  advertising  manager  must  have 
the  cooperation  of  the  sales  manager,  the  production  manager 
and  the  owners  of  the  business.  Presumably  he  knows  more 
about  advertising  than  anyone  else  in  the  concern.  This  fact 
alone  should  place  him  beyond  the  criticism  of  any  of  the  execu- 
tives save  that  of  his  employer,  and  even  then  deference  should 
be  paid  to  his  experience.  If  the  advertising  he  creates  increases 
the  business  he  is  working  along  the  right  lines  and  ought  not  to 
be  interfered  with. 

Qualifications  of  an  Advertising  Manager. — Some  of  them  are 
these : 

He  Should  Be  Tactful. — In  conducting  an  advertising  depart- 
ment he  deals  with  many  kinds  of  men  both  inside  and  outside 
the  establishment.  Unless  he  is  careful  he  will  say  or  do  things 
that  will  needlessly  antagonize  many  who  can  be  of  service  to 
him.  A  little  tact  and  a  little  diplomacy  will  do  much  toward 
winning  the  good  will  and  cooperation  of  his  associates. 

He  Must  Possess  Energy  and  Perseverance. — Sometimes  he  will 
be  overwhelmed  with  work  and  will  have  to  put  in  nights  and 
occasionally  a  Sunday  to  get  through  with  it,  but  if  he  tackles 
the  job  with  a  determined  spirit  and  sticks  to  it  he  will  complete 
it  in  a  creditable  manner. 

He  Must  Have  Administrative  Ability. — The  advertising  mana- 
ger who  conducts  extensive  advertising  campaigns  cannot  carry 
on  the  work  alone  and  therefore  must  have  competent  assistants. 
He  must  know  how  to  manage  these  assistants  in  such  a  way 
as  to  develop  their  best  ability.  He  must  be  able  to  lay  out 
the  work  of  his  department  to  such  advantage  that  there  will 
be  no  lost  motion  and  that  results  will  be  achieved  economically 
and  effectively. 


254  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

He  Must  Be  Resourceful. — In  the  practice  of  advertising  there  is 
a  constant  need  of  new  ideas.  Advertisements  cannot  be  run  in 
a  mould  like  cement  houses.  They  must  have  variety  of  form 
and  method  of  presentation.  The  advertising  manager  should 
originate  new  ways  of  dressing  up  old  facts  and  making  them 
interesting.  In  carrying  on  campaigns  he  must  meet  and  over- 
come the  opposition  of  competitors  through  aggressive  argument. 

The  advertising  manager  of  a  publication,  unlike  the  advertising 
manager  of  a  retail  or  wholesale  business,  is  a  seller  rather  than  a 
buyer  of  advertising.  Therefore  his  duties  are  entirely  different. 
He  has  little  to  do  with  the  preparation  of  advertising  copy,  his 
chief  task  being  to  get  advertising  for  the  magazine  or  newspaper 
by  which  he  is  employed.  He  ranks  next  to  the  publisher  or 
business  manager  in  importance.  He  is  the  producer  of  revenue 
and  unless  he  can  induce  the  local  merchants  and  the  national 
distributors  of  merchandise  to  advertise  in  his  newspaper  there 
will  be  no  money  to  pay  bills  or  salaries  when  Saturday  comes 
around. 

The  advertising  staff  of  an  important  city  newspaper  is  com- 
posed of  an  advertising  manager,  an  assistant  advertising  mana- 
ger, half  a  dozen  or  more  solicitors,  and  a  number  of  stenographers 
and  clerks.  It  is  customary  to  divide  the  work  in  such  a  way 
that  each  of  the  salesmen  will  handle  the  kind  of  business  with 
which  he  is  most  familiar  or  to  which  he  is  best  adapted.  The 
local  advertising  is  taken  care  of  by  one  set  of  men  and  the  foreign 
(or  national)  by  another.  In  soliciting  local  advertising  one 
salesman  calls  upon  the  department  stores;  another  upon  specialty 
shops;  a  third  upon  the  big  grocery  and  drug  stores;  a  fourth 
upon  the  dealers  in  men's  shoes  and  clothing;  a  fifth  upon  banks 
trust  companies  and  brokers;  a  sixth  upon  schools  and  colleges; 
a  seventh  solicits  theatrical  and  other  amusement  advertising; 
and  an  eighth,  with  several  young  men  assistants,  looks  after  the 
classified  advertising.  Others  canvass  the  book  publishers, 
the  summer  and  winter  resort  hotels,  and  the  steamship  and 
railroad  companies. 

The  term  "foreign,"  as  used  in  American  advertising  circles, 
is  applied  to  advertising  that  exploits  products  having  general 
distribution,  such  as  Bull  Durham  Tobacco,  Shredded  Wheat, 


DUTIES  OF  THE  ADVERTISING  MANAGER  255 

Keen  Kutter  Tools  and  Diamond  Dyes.  The  foreign  advertising 
manager  has  a  wide  acquaintance  among  national  advertisers 
and  the  advertising  agents  who  handle  their  campaigns.  He 
calls  upon  the  most  important  of  these  himself,  leaving  the 
others  to  his  assistants. 

The  advertising  manager  of  a  newspaper  or  magazine  is  ever 
on  the  alert  for  the  appearance  of  new  advertisers  in  the  various 
publications.  He  picks  up  advertising  tips  at  his  club,  at 
restaurants  frequented  at  lunch  time  by  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances in  business  and  advertising  circles,  and  at  the  country 
club  when  he  plays  an  occasional  game  of  golf.  Tips  come  to 
him  over  the  telephone,  by  letter,  and  now  and  then  by  telegraph. 
All  of  them  receive  his  careful  attention,  those  that  appear  worth 
while  being  referred  immediately  to  the  various  members  of  his 
staff,  who  follow  them  up. 

Every  live  advertising  manager  who  desires  to  secure  as  much 
national  advertising  as  possible  for  his  publication  keeps  on  file 
in  his  office  a  reliable  list  of  all  general  advertisers  in  the  country, 
their  advertising  managers  and  their  advertising  agents.  Such 
lists  are  prepared  and  furnished  by  at  least  two  bureaus  at  a  fixed 
price  to  whoever  wants  them.  With  this  information  in  hand 
the  advertising  manager  knows  to  whom  his  letters  of  solicitation 
should  be  sent  or  upon  whom  his  salesman  should  call.  He  does 
not  attempt  to  work  the  entire  list,  for  that,  as  he  has  learned 
from  past  experience,  is  a  waste  of  effort,  but  selects  from  it  those 
concerns  whose  products  could  be  advantageously  advertised  in 
his  publication.  Not  every  article  can  be  profitably  exploited 
in  newspapers  or  magazines. 

A  card  index  in  which  is  recorded  the  results  of  interviews 
salesmen  have  had  with  prospective  advertisers  is  of  great  service 
to  the  advertising  manager  in  running  his  department.  Such 
an  index  will  save  the  office  time  and  money  in  following  up 
prospects  later  on.  All  information  that  will  be  of  assistance  to 
the  next  salesman  who  calls  on  an  advertiser  should  be  kept  on 
file. 

The  advertising  manager  should  not  stick  too  closely  to  his 
desk,  but  should  get  out  and  rub  elbows  with  the  leading  business 
men  of  the  community.  He  ought  to  study  their  advertising 


256  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

problems  and  help  them  to  arrive  at  their  correct  solution.  He 
should  be  able  to  suggest,  now  and  then,  a  series  of  advertisements 
that  will,  because  of  their  timeliness  or  their  special  appeal, 
boost  a  merchant's  sales.  If  you  can  show  a  retailer  how  he  can 
increase  his  sales  without  spending  more  money  than  the  addi- 
tional sales  would  amount  to,  you  will  win  his  friendship  and 
support. 

How  Merchandising  Service  Departments  Aid  General  Adver- 
tisers.— The  recent  introduction  of  merchandising  service  depart- 
ments in  the  offices  of  several  metropolitan  dailies,  and  a  few 
weeklies  and  magazines,  has  added  to  the  responsibilities  of  the 
newspaper  advertising  manager.  The  object  of  this  service  is  to 
help  the  national  distributor  realize  upon  his  advertising  invest- 
ment. Different  methods  are  employed  by  different  publications. 
Information  that  will  aid  the  advertiser  in  sizing  up  the  market  is 
furnished  free  of  expense  by  all  of  them.  The  New  York  Evening 
Journal  collects  data  regarding  any  product  handled  over  the 
retail  counter.  For  instance,  a  packer  of  meat  products  asks 
for  information  regarding  the  bacon  market  in  New  York.  A 
comprehensive  questionnaire  is  prepared  and  submitted  to  repre- 
sentative dealers  throughout  the  city  by  members  of  the  Journal's 
service  staff. 

The  answers  are  then  carefully  tabulated  and  the  completed  re- 
port turned  over  to  the  concern  making  the  inquiry.  The  report 
shows  what  percentage  of  purchasers  ask  for  a  particular  brand 
and  the  name  of  that  brand;  whether  the  sale  of  "jar"  bacon  is 
increasing  or  decreasing;  what  brands  of  ham  or  bacon  they 
prefer  to  handle,  etc.  With  this  information  in  hand  the  packer 
can  intelligently  decide  whether  or  not  he  should  try  to  break 
into  the  New  York  market,  or,  if  his  products  are  already  being 
sold,  how  they  are  regarded  by  the  trade.  The  manufacturer  of  a 
macaroni  product  wants  to  know  his  chances  of  success  should 
he  advertise  it.  The  Journals'  merchandising  department  sup- 
plies him  with  a  survey  of  the  market  that  tells  him  how  much 
money  is  spent  for  macaroni  and  spaghetti,  the  names  of  the  three 
leading  brands,  the  most  popular  price  and  the  size  of  the  most 
popular  package,  the  average  margin  of  profit  on  the  goods,  and 
the  amount  of  the  jobber's  discounts. 


DUTIES  OF  THE  ADVERTISING  MANAGER  257 

The  Journal  publishes  each  month  trade  papers  for  four  kinds 
of  dealers — grocers,  druggists,  dealers  in  men's  and  women's 
wear  and  shoes  and  dealers  in  automobiles  and  automobile 
accessories.  Prizes  amounting  to  $200  are  offered  monthly  for 
the  best  window  displays  in  each  of  these  classes. 

The  New  York  World's  merchandising  service  furnishes 
accurate  information  regarding  the  buying  habits  of  the  people; 
the  number  and  character  of  the  stores  in  each  line  of  business; 
the  buying  and  selling  habits  of  the  retailers  with  whom  the  ad- 
vertiser must  deal.  It  offers  advertisers  a  letter  of  introduction  to 
the  dealers  of  New  York  if  they  use  adequate  space  under  a  non- 
cancellable  contract. 

It  has  prepared  zone  maps  showing  the  location  of  2,600 
druggists  and  16,000  grocers  in  the  city,  by  the  aid  of  which 
the  sales  manager  who  has  a  product  to  market  that  can  be  sold 
by  either  or  both  of  these  classes  of  retailers  can  so  route  his 
salesmen  that  they  will  cover  the  entire  trade  in  the  shortest 
possible  time.  The  World  also  issues  "The  World  Retailer," 
a  copy  of  which  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  every  grocer  and  drug- 
gist in  the  city.  This  publication  is  designed  to  help  retailers 
sell  more  goods  and  improve  their  store  service. 

The  idea  that  a  newspaper  should  do  something  more  for  its 
advertisers  than  print  their  announcements  is  favorably  regarded 
by  the  more  progressive  publishers.  It  is  reasonable  to  believe 
that  the  more  goods  a  manufacturer  or  merchant  sells  through  ad- 
vertising, the  more  he  will  want  to  invest  in  it.  If  a  newspaper 
takes  an  active  interest  in  making  a  selling  campaign  a  success 
the  advertiser  will  appreciate  the  fact  in  a  way  that  will  please  the 
cashier.  Merchandising  service  departments  are  expensive 
but  if  they  are  rightly  conducted  they  will  undoubtedly  be  of 
great  value  in  attracting  to  the  publication  a  large  volume  of 
profitable  advertising. 

In  his  desire  to  make  the  department  effective  the  advertising 
manager  will  be  tempted  to  undertake  more  than  he  should. 
One  thing  he  should  not  do;  that  is  to  take  on  any  of  the  work 
that  properly  belongs  to  the  manufacturer's  salesmen.  It  is 
not  the  province  of  a  newspaper  or  a  magazine  to  send  out  the 
members  of  its  staff  to  personally  take  orders  for  merchandise. 

17 


258  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Questions 

1.  What  are  the  duties  of  a  department  store  advertising  manager? 

2.  Describe  the  work  of  the  advertising  manager  of  a  manufacturer  who 
does  a  national  business. 

3.  What  are  his  qualifications? 

4.  What  are  the  duties  of  a  newspaper  or  magazine  advertising  manager? 
6.  How  do  merchandising  service  departments  help  the  advertiser? 

6.  Give  specific  illustrations. 

7.  In  what  ways  are  the  publications  benefited  by  rendering  this  service? 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

WHAT  THE  ADVERTISING  AGENT  DOES  FOR  THE 
NATIONAL  ADVERTISER 

Years  ago,  when  the  advertising  business  outgrew  its  swaddling 
clothes  and  began  to  get  its  stride,  a  new  figure  appeared  in  the 
advertising  field.  He  was  called  an  "advertising  agent"  and 
the  name  has  stuck  to  his  successors  ever  since.  At  first  he  was 
only  a  broker  who  bought  space  in  bulk  from  the  newspaper  and 
magazine  publishers  and  retailed  it  in  small  quantities  to  mer- 
chants and  manufacturers  at  a  large  profit.  He  rendered  no 
special  service  to  the  advertiser,  his  sole  concern  being  to  collect 
the  money  due  him  for  the  space  sold. 

But  after  awhile  the  agent  found  that  if  he  was  to  establish  a 
permanent  business  on  a  sound  foundation  he  would  have  to 
make  the  advertiser's  investment  pay.  This  meant  better  copy, 
better  display,  and  better  illustrations.  He  began  by  writing  the 
copy,  then  he  selected  the  pictures  to  accompany  it  and,  finally, 
he  told  the  printer  how  to  display  the  advertisements  in  such  a 
way  that  they  would  attract  the  maximum  amount  of  attention. 
As  his  efficiency  increased  through  experience  he  was  able  to 
give  better  and  still  better  service  to  his  clients. 

To-day  the  advertising  agent  occupies  an  impregnable  position. 
He  is  indispensable  both  to  advertisers  and  to  publishers.  He 
has  done  and  is  now  doing  more  to  develop  business  of  all  kinds 
than  anyone  else.  Ninety  per  cent,  of  all  the  national  advertis- 
ing appearing  in  the  newspapers  and  magazines,  representing  an 
investment  of  $200,000,000  a  year,  is  placed  by  advertising 
agents.  There  are  fifteen  or  twenty  agencies  that  handle  from 
$1,000,000  to  $8,000,000  worth  of  advertising  annually.  Single 
accounts,  in  at  least  three  instances,  run  as  high  as  $3,500,000. 
Only  a  very  small  part  of  the  money  expended  in  advertising  is 
spent  for  materials — plates,  mats,  paper,  cardboard,  stationery, 

259 


260  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

etc.  The  bulk  goes  for  the  purchase  of  white  space  in  popular 
mediums,  or  rather,  for  the  privilege  of  filling  it  with  business 
appeals,  and  for  brains  to  originate  plans,  copy  and  illustrations 
that  will  sell  merchandise  or  anything  else. 

An  advertising  agent  stands  in  much  the  same  relationship  to 
the  advertiser  as  a  lawyer  to  his  client.  He  is  entrusted  with  his 
business  secrets,  he  gives  him  advice  regarding  the  marketing  of 
merchandise,  he  prepares  and  carries  on  his  advertising  cam- 
paigns, he  makes  trade  investigations  and,  on  occasion,  dictates 
the  policies  governing  production  and  distribution.  A  general 
agent  specializes  on  national  advertising  but  in  the  small  cities 
occasionally  handles  retail  advertising.  Some  agents  are  experts 
in  financial,  technical,  electrical,  textile,  mechanical,  educational, 
or  religious  advertising.  Others  confine  their  activities  to  the 
preparation  of  booklets,  catalogs,  folders  and  other  forms  of 
direct  mail  advertising,  or  to  the  designing  of  illustrations. 

The  Agent's  Equipment. — No  business  commands  the  services 
of  a  better  type  of  men  than  advertising.  In  order  to  succeed  in 
the  agency  business  a  person  must  be  well  educated.  He  must 
possess  executive  ability  of  a  high  order,  must  be  able  to  analyze 
markets,  must  understand  the  principles  of  salesmanship  and 
know  how  to  influence  people  through  the  written  word.  A  man 
without  these  qualities,  but  having  a  glib  tongue  and  an  agreeable 
presence  may  call  himself  an  advertising  agent  and  persuade  some 
people  to  trust  him  with  their  advertising,  but  his  incompetency 
and  unreliability  will  soon  prove  that  he  is  only  a  counterfeit 
and  not  a  real  advertising  agent.  He  who  would  win  and  keep  the 
confidence  of  business  men  must  first  qualify  at  the  bar  of  advertis- 
ing practice". 

In  order  to  secure  recognition  as  an  agent  from  the  American 
Newspaper  Publishers'  Association,  which  is  composed  of  600 
leading  dailies,  and  the  Periodical  Publishers'  Association,  repre- 
senting the  foremost  weekly  and  monthly  magazines,  the  appli- 
cant must  convince  these  organizations  that  he  is  a  man  of 
character;  that  he  is  qualified  to  render  valuable  service  to  his 
clients;  that  he  possesses  sufficient  capital  to  finance  his  business; 
and  that  he  has  several  active  accounts  in  hand  at  the  time  his 
request  for  recognition  is  filed. 


WHAT  THE  ADVERTISING  AGENT  DOES  261 

While  it  is  true  that  no  advertising  agent  is  obliged  to  seek 
recognition  from  these  associations  in  order  to  do  business  with 
the  newspapers  and  magazines,  nevertheless  his  path  will  be 
made  much  smoother  and  his  chances  for  building  up  a  profitable 
business  much  greater  if  he  has  it.  Recognition  entitles  him,  with- 
out question  or  argument,  to  the  agent's  commission  and  a  certain 
amount  of  credit  from  all  members  of  the  American  Newspaper 
Publishers'  Association  and  the  Periodical  Publishers'  Association 
with  whom  he  may  desire  to  do  business.  These  privileges  are, 
of  course,  most  important  to  a  young  agency  that  has  a  small 
capital  and  great  ambition. 

How  the  Agent  Helps  the  Advertiser. — The  first  important 
service  the  agent  renders  the  prospect  is  in  deciding  whether  he 
is  in  a  position  to  advertise.  The  agent  will  not,  if  he  is  honest, 
and  most  agents  are  honest,  advise  a  manufacturer  to  under- 
take an  advertising  campaign  unless  he  is  confident  that  the 
article  to  be  exploited  possesses  real  merit  and  that  a  profitable 
demand  for  it  can  be  created.  In  other  words,  the  agent  will  not 
induce  a  man  to  advertise  solely  for  the  sake  of  the  commission  he 
may  receive  for  handling  the  account. 

A  New  York  advertising  agent  was  requested  in  a  letter  from  a 
manufacturer  in  a  near-by  city  to  invest  for  him  $20,000  in  an 
advertising  campaign.  The  agent  did  not  respond  to  the  invita- 
tion to  call  upon  the  prospect  for  several  days  and  when  he 
finally  appeared  the  latter  expressed  surprise  at  his  delay. 

"What  do  you  suppose  I  have  been  doing  in  the  meantime?" 
the  agent  quietly  asked.  "  I  have  been  visiting  the  plants  of  three 
of  your  principal  competitors.  From  information  I  picked  up 
I  am  convinced  that  you  are  in  no  position  to  advertise." 

"Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  I  should  not  spend  my  $20,000 
in  advertising?"  enquired  the  advertiser  with  a  surprised  look. 
"Can't  I  do  what  I  please  with  my  own  money?" 

"Of  course,  you  can  throw  it  away  if  you  like, "  responded  the 
agent,  "But  if  you  put  it  into  advertising  it  will  be  wasted.  The 
machinery  in  your  factory  is  antiquated  while  the  factories  of 
your  rivals  have  new  up-do-date  equipment.  They  can  manu- 
facture the  product  at  a  lower  cost  and  therefore  can  undersell 
you  hi  the  market.  Until  you  put  in  new  machinery  you  can- 


262  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

not  possibly  compete  with  them.  Therefore,  as  I  said  before 
you  had  better  keep  your  $20,000  until  you  are  ready  to 
advertise." 

The  manufacturer  heeded  the  advice  of  the  agent  and  two 
years  passed  before  he  was  prepared  to  meet  competition.  Then 
he  invested  not  only  the  $20,000  he  had  originally  appropriated, 
but  $20,000  more,  in  an  advertising  campaign  that  helped  him  to 
secure,  later  on,  the  lead  in  his  field. 

Trade  Investigations. — Before  undertaking  the  work  of  plan- 
ning a  campaign  or  of  getting  up  the  advertising  copy  the  agent 
makes  a  thorough  study  of  all  the  information  available  concern- 
ing the  product  and  the  market.  He  visits  the  factory  and  notes 
the  quality  of  the  materials  and  the  workmanship  entering  into 
its  manufacture.  He  makes  an  analysis  of  the  markets  to  find 
out  where  the  goods  can  be  sold  to  best  advantage  and  through 
what  mediums.  He  finds  out  what  the  channels  of  distribution 
are  and  what  competition  must  be  met.  It  is  only  after  he  has 
completed  his  investigation  and  has  analyzed  the  facts  he  has 
assembled  that  he  is  ready  to  intelligently  advise  his  client  upon 
his  advertising  problems. 

The  advertiser  himself  is  too  close  to  his  own  business  to  see 
its  needs  and  its  possibilities.  The  agent  with  his  outside  view 
frequently  discovers  valuable  facts  about  the  product  that  the 
manufacturer  has  entirely  overlooked.  Sometimes  he  makes 
a  single  suggestion,  perhaps  about  the  package  in  which  the 
article  is  sold,  or  concerning  the  method  of  distribution,  that 
turns  his  client's  business  from  a  failure  to  a  success. 

Market  investigations  are  now  regarded  of  such  great  im- 
portance and  involve  so  much  expense  that  a  service  charge  is 
made  for  them  by  most  agencies.  Sometimes  half  a  dozen  high 
class  representatives  are  employed  for  months  at  a  time  in 
traveling  over  the  country  in  search  of  information  that  will  be 
of  value  to  the  advertiser.  Investigations  are  made  to  find  out 
what  competitors  are  doing,  why  sales  have  fallen  off,  what 
improvements  in  the  product  can  be  made  as  the  result  of  inter- 
views with  consumers,  why  dealers  object  to  handling  the  goods, 
what  can  be  done  to  cultivate  good  will,  how  advertising  cam- 
paigns are  pulling,  etc.  It  is  not  unusual  for  a  big  corporation 


WHAT  THE  ADVERTISING  AGENT  DOES  263 

to  spend  through  its  advertising  agency  from  $3,000  to  $10,000 
on  one  of  these  investigations. 

Advertising  agents  are  particularly  well  fitted  to  undertake 
this  work  for  the  advertiser.  Many  of  them  were  formerly  news- 
paper reporters  or  editors,  and  the  training  they  received  in 
digging  out  news  stories  and  in  analyzing  facts  and  information 
qualifies  them  to  conduct  inquiries  of  this  character.  Moreover, 
they  bring  to  the  work  an  unbiased  mind — one  that  is  equally 
receptive  of  favorable  or  unfavorable  facts.  If  a  manufacturer 
undertakes  to  secure  special  trade  information  through  his  own 
salesmen  the  results  are  unsatisfactory  for  the  reason  that  the 
merchants  upon  whom  they  call  are  usually  acquainted  with 
the  salesmen  and  tell  them  what  they  think  they  would  like  to 
have  them  say,  rather  than  what  they  ought  to  say.  In  other 
words,  the  information  is  colored  and  therefore  worthless.  The 
merchant  usually  does  not  know  he  is  being  interviewed  by  the 
advertising  agent  and  talks  frankly  to  him  upon  the  subject  of 
the  inquiry.  Facts  obtained  in  this  way  are  much  more  reliable 
and  therefore  much  more  valuable  to  the  advertiser. 

Selecting  the  Mediums. — In  advertising,  one  of  the  most 
important  things  is  the  selection  of  the  mediums  in  which  the 
campaign  is  to  run.  There  are  2,528  daily  newspapers,  15,000 
weeklies  and  4,900  monthlies,  quarterlies  and  other  periodicals 
published  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  How  can  an  ad- 
vertiser who  has  had  little  or  no  experience  with  these  mediums 
choose  those  that  will  best  serve  his  purpose?  How  can  he  tell 
whether  the  rates  quoted  him  are  the  publisher's  lowest?  He 
might  pay  25  per  cent,  more  than  one  of  his  competitors  and  not 
be  aware  of  it  unless  some  disinterested  friend  told  him. 

It  is  the  agent's  business  to  know  all  there  is  to  know  about 
mediums.  He  can  tell  you  the  circulation,  politics  and  standing 
of  the  leading  newspapers  of  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
He  is  posted  on  the  character  of  populations,  the  chief  industries 
carried  on,  the  kinds  of  goods  that  are  in  greatest  demand. 
He  gets  the  lowest  rates  because  he  handles  many  accounts  and 
is  in  a  position  to  know  when  they  are  rock-bottom.  In  every 
city  one  newspaper  dominates  the  field,  not  always  in  circulation, 
but  in  influence  and  advertising  patronage.  If  the  advertiser  can 


264  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

use  but  one  newspaper  in  a  town,  the  agent  knows  which  paper 
should  be  selected.  This  service  alone  is  worth  many  thousands 
of  dollars  to  the  client  when  a  large  number  of  mediums  is 
employed. 

The  Agency  Organization. — The  agent  who  looked  after  the 
advertising  of  several  concerns  having  national  distribution  found 
out  long  ago  that  he  could  not  do  all  the  work  alone  and  so  he 
proceeded  to  organize  a  staff  of  assistants  to  help  handle  the 
business.  He  engaged  solicitors  or,  as  the  agents  prefer  to  call 
them,  service  men,  to  interview  prospective  clients,  secure  their 
advertising  and  handle  accounts;  copy-writers  and  artists  to 
prepare  the  advertisements  for  the  several  publications  in  which 
they  were  to  appear;  a  space  buyer  to  make  contracts  with 
publishers  for  the  space  they  were  to  occupy;  clerks  to  look 
after  the  correspondence  and  the  files  and  to  send  out  mats  or 
plates  to  the  newspapers  and  magazines,  and  to  check  up  the 
advertisements  as  they  were  published,  and  attend  to  the  other 
office  details;  bookkeepers,  stenographers,  a  cashier,  an  office 
manager,  market  investigators,  etc.  According  to  the  size  of 
the  business  the  number  of  employees  now  engaged  in  an  agency 
vary  from  half  a  dozen  to  212,  the  latter  comprising  the  staff 
of  New  York's  largest  advertising  agency.  In  the  smaller  agen- 
cies one  man  performs  the  duties  of  several  of  the  above  positions. 

In  organizing  an  agency  oare  is  taken  to  secure  men  who  have 
had  experience  in  handling  accounts  and  are  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  advertising  requirements.  If  any  agency  spec- 
ializes on  financial  advertising  it  is  most  important  that  the  chief 
of  the  copy  department  or  one  of  his  assistants  should  possess 
expert  knowledge  of  banks,  railroads,  steamship  companies, 
industrial  and  mining  corporations.  If  it  confines  its  attention 
to  textiles,  those  who  are  responsible  for  its  success  must  be 
as  well  informed  upon  all  phases  of  the  business  as  the  manufac- 
turers themselves.  Often  they  have  had  actual  experience  in 
the  production  of  textiles.  In  any  event  the  executives  must 
be  able  to  discuss  the  manufacturer's  problems  as  experts  and  not 
as  amateurs.  The  same  things  may  be  said  of  those  agencies 
that  specialize  on  other  technical  and  professional  lines  of 
advertising. 


WHAT  THE  ADVERTISING  AGENT  DOES  265 

What  the  Agency  Does. — Let  us  summarize  briefly  the 
service  the  modern  advertising  agency  renders  the  client: 

1.  Makes  market  and  trade  investigations. 

2.  Plans  advertising  campaigns. 

3.  Prepares  copy  and  illustrations. 

4.  Selects  the  mediums  and  makes  contracts  with  the  news- 
papers and  magazines  for  the  space  to  be  used. 

5.  Furnishes  the  publishers  plates  or  mats  of  the  advertise- 
ments and  a  schedule  of  the  dates  upon  which  they  are  to  be 
printed. 

6.  Checks  up  the  advertisements  as  they  appear  in  order  to  see 
that  they  are  inserted  upon  the  proper  dates  and  in  the  position 
called  for  by  the  contract. 

7.  Prepares  dealer  helps — booklets,  folders,  leaflets,  hangers, 
counter  cards,  window  displays,  advertisements  for  local  news- 
papers, house  organs,  etc. 

8.  Pays  the  bills  as  they  fall  due  and  renders  an  account  of 
same  to  the  advertiser. 

9.  Secures  the  cooperation  of  the  manufacturers'  and  jobbers' 
salesmen  by  showing  them  copies  of  the  advertisements  and  a 
list  of  the  mediums  in  which  they  are  to  appear,  and  by  pointing 
out  the  several  ways  hi  which  the  advertising  will  help  them  to 
sell  more  goods  with  less  effort. 

The  manufacturer  or  wholesaler  who  places  his  advertising 
direct — that  is,  who  furnishes  his  own  copy  and  makes  contracts 
with  individual  publishers — must  employ  a  staff  of  clerks  and 
bookkeepers  at  considerable  expense  to  look  after  the  advertising 
in  one  or  two  hundred  publications  and  mail  checks  for  the 
amount  due  once  a  month  to  each  of  them.  All  this  bother  and 
expense  is  avoided  when  the  advertising  is  placed  in  the  hands 
of  an  advertising  agency.  Every  month  the  client  is  billed  for 
the  month's  advertising,  which  he  pays  by  a  single  check. 

What  Agency  Service  Costs. — In  conducting  newspaper  and 
magazine  campaigns  the  agency  charges  the  client  for  all  art 
work,  cuts  and  mats  furnished  the  publications  in  which  the 
advertisements  are  to  appear,  and  for  special  trade  investigations. 
Its  renumeration  for  services  rendered  in  planning  and  carrying 
on  the  campaign,  however,  comes  from  the  publications  in  which 


2C6  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

the  advertising  appears.  The  standard  commission  paid  by  the 
large  daily  newspapers  and  magazines  is  15  per  cent,  of  the 
amount  charged  for  the  space  used.  The  smaller  dailies  and 
weeklies  pay  25  per  cent.  There  are  several  agencies  that 
credit  the  advertiser's  account  with  all  commissions  and  dis- 
counts received  from  publishers  and  charge  a  fee  of  15  per  cent. 
on  the  net  cost.  A  few  make  a  service  charge  to  the  client  in 
addition  to  the  commission,  but  the  most  of  the  agencies 
receive  no  other  remuneration  than  that  paid  by  the  publishers. 

Why  the  Publisher  Pays  the  Agency  a  Commission. — A  majority 
of  the  manufacturers  who  become  national  advertisers  owe  their 
start  to  the  missionary  work  of  the  agents  rather  than  to  their 
own  initiative.  One  of  the  most  important  functions  of  the  agent 
is  the  development  of  new  advertisers.  He  patiently  and  persist- 
ently labors  with  prospects,  of  ten  for  months,  sometimes  for  years, 
before  he  induces  them  to  take  the  plunge  that  perhaps  leads  to 
fortune.  Every  new  advertiser  he  brings  into  the  fold  means 
more  money  for  the  publisher,  but  the  expense  involved  is  borne 
solely  by  the  agent.  The  publisher  is  indeed  glad  to  have  the 
agent  develop  for  his  periodical  new  business  that  has  cost  him 
nothing,  and  it  is  in  recognition  of  this  service  that  he  pays  the 
agent  a  commission  on  the  space  he  buys  for  his  client. 

Whom  Does  the  Agent  Represent — the  Advertiser  or  the  Pub- 
lisher?— This  is  a  question  often  discussed  at  advertising  club 
meetings  and  other  conferences  of  advertising  men.  As  the 
agent's  remuneration  comes  from  the  publisher  it  would  seem, 
at  the  first  glance,  that  he  represents  the  publisher.  At  the 
same  time  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  agent  is  not  governed 
in  his  selection  of  mediums  for  a  client's  campaign  by  the  amount 
of  the  commission  paid  him  upon  the  quantity  of  space  purchased, 
as  the  rate  is  practically  the  same  on  all  publications  of  the  same 
class,  but  upon  the  service  the  publications  can  give  the  advertiser. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  agency  really  represents  the  advertiser 
although  not  paid  by  him.  If  the  latter  should  place  his  advertis- 
ing direct  with  the  publisher  he  would  not  be  allowed  the  com- 
mission usually  paid  the  agent  and  therefore  would  gain  nothing 
by  the  transaction.  The  advertiser  engages  the  services  of  the 
agent  because  he  wants  the  assistance  and  advice  of  an  advertis- 


WHAT  THE  ADVERTISING  AGENT  DOES  267 

ing  expert  who  has  made  a  study  of  merchandising  problems  and 
knows  just  what  to  do  to  get  the  best  results.  He  takes  the 
agent  into  his  confidence  and  tells  him  things  about  his  business 
which,  if  revealed  to  his  competitors,  might  be  used  by  them  to 
his  disadvantage.  That  his  confidence  is  rarely  ever  betrayed  is  a 
fact  well  known  in  the  advertising  world. 

The  advertiser  places  his  entire  appropriation,  sometimes 
amounting  to  a  million  dollars,  in  the  hands  of  his  agent  to  be 
spent  according  to  an  approved  plan.  In  all  disputes  that  may 
arise  over  advertising  contracts  made  with  publishers  the  agent 
always  looks  after  and  protects  the  client's  interests  rather  than 
those  of  the  publisher.  He  advances  money  to  pay  the  adver- 
tising bills  before  he  has  received  the  amount  due  from  the 
advertiser.  If,  through  any  cause,  the  client  fails  to  meet  his 
obligations,  the  loss  falls  on  the  agent  and  not  upon  the  publisher. 

It  is  the  agent's  business  to  make  advertising  pay  the  advertiser. 
If  he  succeeds  he  is  not  always  certain  that  the  account  will 
remain  in  his  hands  indefinitely,  although  it  not  infrequently 
does;  and  if  he  fails  he  knows  that  his  client  will  either  become 
discouraged  and  drop  out  of  the  advertising  ranks  or  seek  another 
agent  who  may  invest  his  appropriation  to  better  advantage. 

The  agent's  hardest  task  is  not  the  preparation  of  copy,  or  the 
placing  of  contracts  for  advertising  space,  but  finding  the  big 
selling  idea  upon  which  the  advertising  campaign  can  be  prof- 
itably based.  Every  article  to  be  marketed  must  have  at  least 
one  advantage  over  others  of  the  same  class  if  it  is  to  achieve 
much  of  a  success  through  advertising.  When  an  agency  takes 
on  an  account  about  the  first  thing  it  does  is  to  try  to  discover  the 
quality  or  characteristic  of  the  product  that  differentiates  it 
from  its  competitors  and  which  can  be  used  as  a  lever  to  get 
business. 

An  advertising  agent  who  had  taken  on  a  hosiery  account  tried 
to  originate  a  new  idea  for  advertising  the  product.  He  studied 
the  problem  from  every  possible  angle  but  for  a  long  time  made 
no  progress.  The  hosiery  apparently  differed  in  no  way  from 
the  hosiery  manufactured  by  half  a  dozen  leading  concerns.  In 
talking  one  day  with  one  of  the  factory  foremen  the  latter  told 
him  that  in  the  process  of  manufacture  the  yarn  was  given  an 


268  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

extra  twist  in  order  to  improve  its  wearing  qualities.  This  was 
the  big  idea  he  had  been  looking  for.  He  made  it  the  basis  of 
the  advertising  campaign  which  was  launched  shortly  afterward 
and  which  proved  to  be  wonderfully  successful. 

A  New  York  agency  was  called  upon  to  market  a  new  brand  of 
grapefruit.  It  sent  a  representative  to  Porto  Rico  where  the 
orchards  were  located  to  dig  up  important  facts  that  would  help 
the  agency  create  a  market  for  it.  The  representative,  after 
spending  several  days  in  studying  the  methods  employed  in 
cultivating  the  grapefruit,  in  picking  it  from  the  trees,  and  in 
packing  it  for  transportation,  was  unable  to  discover  anything 
that  gave  it  distinction  over  other  grapefruit.  He  was  really 
discouraged  when  he  chanced  to  ask  one  of  the  workmen  em- 
ployed by  the  owner  in  what  way  the  Porto  Rico  product  differed 
from  that  grown  elsewhere.  "Why,"  he  exclaimed,  "They  are 
regular  balls  of  juice."  That  phrase,  "balls  of  juice,"  furnished 
the  keynote  of  the  advertising  campaign  that  followed,  which 
resulted  in  creating  an  extensive  demand  for  the  grapefruit. 

The  advertising  agents  have  made  great  progress  in  recent 
years  in  standardizing  the  business  through  their  several  asso- 
ciations. The  American  Association  of  Advertising  Agencies, 
their  national  organization,  has  a  membership  of  132,  which  in- 
cludes the  representative  agencies  of  the  United  States.  Local 
chapters  have  been  established  in  several  of  the  larger  cities. 
Many  of  the  agents  also  belong  to  the  Agent's  Division  of  the 
Associated  Advertising  Clubs  of  the  World  and  attend  its  annual 
meetings.  Constant  improvement  is  being  made  in  advertising 
practice  as  a  result  of  the  earnest  work  that  is  being  done  by  these 
associations.  One  of  their  greatest  accomplishments  has  been  the 
securing  of  the  enactment  of  laws  in  thirty-six  states  providing 
for  the  punishment  of  persons  who  deceive  the  public  through 
lying  advertisements.  Twenty-one  of  the  states  have  adopted 
the  Printers'  Ink  Model  Statute. 

The  Special  Agency. — Newspaper  advertising,  as  we  have 
already  learned,  is  classified  under  two  heads — local  and  national. 
While  the  bulk  of  it  is  of  necessity  local  in  character,  a  consider- 
able part  of  a  newspaper's  income  is  derived  from  national 
advertising,  which  publishers  consider  desirable  because  it  is 
high-class  and  possesses  a  certain  news  value  that  interests  the 


WHAT  THE  ADVERTISING  AGENT  DOES  269 

general  reader.  Moreover,  it  often  pays  a  better  rate  than  local 
advertising.  The  most  of  the  national  advertising  originates  in 
the  metropolitan  cities  and  is  not  easily  secured  by  newspapers 
issued  in  smaller  cities. 

There  are  only  two  ways  of  getting  this  business — by  cor- 
respondence and  by  personal  solicitation.  The  first  method  is 
slow,  uncertain  and  unsatisfactory;  the  second  is  expensive  and 
can  only  be  used  by  large  and  prosperous  newspapers,  for  the 
publisher  of  the  average  daily  cannot  afford  to  open  offices  and 
employ  salesmen  to  solicit  business  in  the  principal  cities  where 
national  advertisers  have  their  headquarters. 

How  to  obtain  national  advertising  on  a  profitable  basis  was  a 
problem  that  the  smaller  newspaper  publishers  tried  in  vain  to 
solve  for  a  number  of  years.  Finally  several  New  York  adver- 
tising salesmen  came  to  their  aid  by  proposing  to  establish  in 
that  city  special  agencies  which,  for  a  reasonable  fee,  would  repre- 
sent them  in  the  national  field.  While  the  amount  to  be  paid  by 
each  publisher  was  relatively  small  the  total  amount  paid  by  half 
a  dozen  or  more  publishers  would  give  an  agency  an  attractive 
income.  The  proposition  appealed  to  the  newspaper  publishers, 
who  were  glad  to  sign  contracts  for  their  services.  The  special 
agents  were  so  successful  in  getting  advertising  for  their  clients 
that  they  soon  earned  for  themselves  a  permanent  place  in  the 
advertising  field.  To-day  these  special  representatives,  as  they 
prefer  to  be  called,  are  to  be  found  in  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Chicago,  Kansas  City,  St.  Louis,  Atlanta,  Detroit,  San  Francisco 
and  Boston. 

A  special  agency  has  a  number  of  publications  on  its  list  whose 
advertising  interests  it  looks  after  in  the  national  field.  Several 
agencies  in  New  York,  where  many  of  the  largest  are  located, 
represent  thirty  or  more  out-of-town  newspapers.  The  size  of 
the  territory  covered  by  an  agency  depends  upon  the  importance 
of  the  publications.  Sometimes  an  agency's  activities  are  con- 
fined to  a  single  city  like  New  York;  sometimes  to  a  group  of 
States  like  New  England,  the  Atlantic  Seaboard,  the  Middle 
West  or  the  Pacific  Coast;  and  sometimes  they  cover  the  entire 
country. 

Publishers'  representatives  are  paid  in  three  ways — a  straight 


270  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

salary,  a  straight  commission  or  a  combination  of  salary  and 
commission.  The  more  important  agencies  work  on  a  commis- 
sion basis,  the  smaller  ones  on  a  salary  basis.  When  an  agency 
is  paid  a  commission  any  business  originating  in  its  territory, 
whether  obtained  by  its  solicitors  or  sent  direct  to  the  publications 
by  the  advertiser  himself,  is  credited  to  its  account. 

The  special  agencies  not  only  secure  national  advertising  for 
their  several  publications,  but  they  also  attend  to  the  billing  and 
collecting  on  such  business.  These  organizations  employ  a 
corps  of  expert  salesmen  who  have  a  wide  acquaintance  among 
general  advertisers  in  each  of  the  cities  where  they  have  offices. 
In  order  that  they  may  efficiently  represent  the  newspapers  of 
their  clients  the  agencies  send  their  solicitors  once  or  twice  a 
year  to  the  cities  where  they  are  published,  to  obtain  at  first 
hand  a  knowledge  of  local  conditions,  and  their  advantages  as  a 
market;  to  get  in  touch  with  the  jobbers  and  retailers  and  find 
out  the  nature  of  their  business  and  the  kind  of  goods  they  handle. 
This  personal  contact  enables  the  salesmen  to  give  the  manu- 
facturer they  approach  in  the  national  field  accurate  information 
concerning  the  local  market  and,  frequently,  to  put  him  in 
immediate  contact  with  a  live  dealer  who  will  be  glad  to  handle 
his  line  of  goods. 

A  special  representative  of  the  first  class  is  a  developer  of 
business.  His  solicitors  scour  the  country  and  call  upon  every 
prospect,  however  remote,  from  whom  there  is  the  slightest 
chance  of  securing  an  advertising  contract.  It  is  not  infrequently 
the  case  that  a  special  agency  places  a  newspaper  on  the  national 
advertising  map  as  the  result  of  its  constant  solicitation  of 
manufacturers  or  of  the  general  advertising  agents  who  handle 
their  accounts. 

The  special  agency  does  not  in  any  way  encroach  upon  the 
field  occupied  by  the  general  agency.  It  writes  no  copy,  fur- 
nishes no  illustrations  or  art  work,  performs  no  other  services 
that  are  usually  rendered  by  the  advertising  agent.  Its  service 
to  the  advertiser,  after  the  contract  has  been  signed,  begins  with 
the  receipt  of  the  advertisements  that  are  to  appear  in  the 
mediums  it  represents.  It  forwards  the  advertisements  to  the 
publishers,  sees  that  they  are  given  correct  position  and  that 


WHAT  THE  ADVERTISING  AGENT  DOES  271 

they  appear  on  the  dates  called  for  in  the  schedule.  In  due  time 
it  bills  the  advertiser  for  the  space  used  and  collects  the  money. 
The  special  agency  at  all  times  represents  the  publisher;  the 
general  agency,  the  advertiser. 

The  advertising  agent  finds  the  special  representative  of 
great  assistance  in  preparing  a  list  of  mediums  for  an  advertiser 
to  use,  as  the  latter  always  keeps  on  file  accurate  information 
concerning  the  publications  he  represents  and  the  cities  in  which 
they  are  located.  The  general  agent  does  not  have  to  write 
or  wire  for  the  data  he  may  need;  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  tele- 
phone the  special  representative. 

Questions 

1.  What  proportion  of  all  general  advertising  carried  by  newspapers  and 
magazines  is  placed  by  advertising  agents? 

2.  How  many  agencies  handle  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  business  a  year? 

3.  What  are  the  qualifications  of  an  advertising  agent? 

4.  What  is  his  relationship  to  the  advertiser? 

5.  Why  is  recognition  by  the  American  Newspaper  Publishers'  Associa- 
tion desirable? 

6.  What  is  the  first  important  service  the  agent  renders  the  advertiser? 
Give  an  illustration. 

7.  What  are  the  purposes  of  trade  investigations  as  conducted  by  agencies  ? 

8.  What  services  are  rendered  by  the  agency  in  the  selection  of  mediums? 

9.  Outline  an  agency  organization. 

10.  Give  a  summary  of  the  things  an  agency  does  for  a  client. 

11.  How  is  the  agency  paid  for  its  services  and  by  whom? 

12.  Who  does  the  agency  represent — the  publisher  or  the  advertiser? 

13.  What  should  be  the  agent's  chief  aim? 

14.  What  is  his  hardest  task?     Give  an  illustration. 

16.  What  is  the  name  of  the  general  agents'  national  organization? 

16.  What  are  special  representatives? 

17.  In  what  cities  are  they  located? 

18.  What  service  do  they  render  the  advertiser? 

19.  How  are  they  paid  and  by  whom? 

20.  In  what  ways  do  they  differ  from  general  agents? 

21.  Name  three  nationally  known  advertising  agencies. 


CHAPTER  XXV 
THE  ADVERTISING  SALESMAN 

While  the  principles  involved  in  selling  advertising  are  the  same 
as  those  governing  the  sale  of  merchandise,  it  does  not  follow 
that  a  man  who  has  been  successful  in  the  latter  occupation  will 
be  equally  successful  in  the  marketing  of  advertising.  The  reason 
is  easily  apparent.  The  dry-goods  salesman  disposes  of  manu- 
factured products,  something  tangible,  something  that  can  be 
delivered  in  bulk  to  the  dealer.  The  advertising  salesman,  on 
the  other  hand,  sells  space,  perhaps  in  a  newspaper  or  magazine, 
in  street  cars,  on  the  side  or  top  of  a  building,  or  on  a  billboard. 
Now  white  space  in  a  newspaper  or  any  other  medium  is  intrinsi- 
cally worthless,  but  when  it  is  used  to  present  an  important 
business  message  it  becomes  valuable. 

The  advertising  solicitor  therefore  sells  the  advertiser  some- 
thing more  than  space.  He  sells  opportunity,  a  chance  to  place 
before  thousands  of  possible  buyers  the  merits  of  his  goods. 
Opportunity  is  real,  but  it  is  intangible.  It  cannot  be  measured 
by  a  yard  stick  or  weighed  on  scales. 

When  a  salesman  who  has  been  selling  merchandise  switches 
over  to  advertising  he  is  at  first  disconcerted  by  the  new  condi- 
tions he  encounters.  He  feels  that  in  selling  space  he  is  disposing 
of  something  that  is  unsubstantial  and  visionary.  How  can  a 
man,  he  asks  himself,  work  up  much  enthusiasm  over  a  thing 
so  characterless  and  inane  as  white  space?  Moreover,  the 
circumstances  under  which  he  works  are  so  different  from  those 
to  which  he  has  been  accustomed,  and  he  finds  so  much  difficulty 
in  adjusting  himself  to  them,  that  he  often  becomes  discouraged 
and  returns  to  the  merchandising  field. 

To  succeed  as  an  advertising  salesman  a  man  must  have 
imagination,  the  ability  to  visualize  the  future  and  to  point  out 
convincingly  to  the  advertiser  the  possibilities  that  may  be 

272 


THE  ADVERTISING  SALESMAN  273 

realized  through  the  aid  of  advertising.  Otherwise,  how  can  he 
expect  to  convince  a  manufacturer  that  it  would  be  a  good  in- 
vestment for  him  to  buy  a  page  in  a  popular  magazine  at  $5,000 
or  $6,000  several  months  from  now,  especially  when  results  cannot 
be  guaranteed  and  the  only  thing  he  gets  for  his  money  is  a 
place  to  post  his  business  appeal  where  many  people  can  see  it? 

Qualifications  of  a  Good  Advertising  Salesman. — This  leads 
us  to  the  consideration  of  the  question,  "  What  are  the  essential 
qualifications  of  a  successful  salesman  of  advertising?"  One 
of  the  most  important  is  that  he  shall  possess  the  knack  of  sales- 
manship. It  is  not  acquired;  he  was  born  with  it.  Thousands 
of  men  who  win  distinction  in  business  and  professional  life  do 
not  have  it.  We  have  known  many  of  them.  They  couldn't  sell 
gold  dollars  at  50  cents  apiece.  The  real  salesman  can  take 
the  blank  dummy  of  the  first  issue  of  a  (new  publication  and  go 
out  and  get  advertising  for  it — not  always,  perhaps,  but 
frequently.  He  has  the  ability  to  convince  and  win  over  the 
advertiser.  If  a  man  lacks  this  qualification  he  cannot  acquire 
it  through  study  or  training.  If  he  at  first  possesses  it  only  to  a 
limited  degree  it  can  be  cultivated  and  developed  through  practice 
until  he  becomes  a  successful  salesman. 

He  Should  Be  Well-educated. — The  solicitor  of  advertising 
need  not  necessarily  be  a  college  graduate,  although  many 
of  them  are,  but  the  wider  his  range  of  knowledge,  the  better 
are  his  chances  of  success,  for  the  reason  that  he  comes  in 
contact  with  the  highest  grade  of  business  men  and  must  be  able 
to  talk  intelligently,  not  only  about  advertising  but  upon  the 
live  topics  of  the  day.  The  national  advertisers  or  the  prospects 
with  whom  he  will  deal,  either  directly,  or  indirectly  through 
their  principal  assistants,  are  the  owners  or  chief  executives  of 
the  businesses  represented.  He  must  meet  them  upon  their  own 
level  and  submit  the  proposition  he  has  to  offer  in  grammatical 
form  and  in  a  manner  that  carries  conviction  and  commands 
respect. 

He  Should  Possess  a  Pleasing  Personality. — The  salesman 
should  dress  well  but  not  extravagantly.  The  man  who  wears 
"loud"  clothes  and  showy  jewelry  is  sometimes  a  good  salesman 
but  more  frequently  he  is  not.  He  relies  too  much  upon  his 

18 


274  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

apparel  to  make  an  impression  upon  the  advertiser  and  too  little 
upon  the  presentation  of  logical  arguments  and  convincing  facts. 
His  flashy  appearance  is  likely  to  arouse  suspicion  and  distrust. 
The  salesman  who  commands  the  attention  of  busy  executives 
dresses  neatly  and  in  good  taste,  is  clean-shaven  and  has  the 
bearing  of  a  gentleman. 

A  finely  cultivated,  well-modulated  voice,  a  graceful  manner, 
and  good  health,  are  considered  valuable  aids  in  the  effective 
presentation  of  any  line  of  goods.  In  the  early  days  of  civiliza- 
tion it  was  the  eloquence  of  the  vendor  and  his  ability  to  charm 
humanity  that  led  to  successful  selling  despite  the  quality  of 
the  merchandise  offered. 

The  modern  salesman  is  alert  in  his  manner,  looks  "like  ready 
money,"  and  brings  good  cheer  along  with  him  when  he  makes  a 
call.  There  is  no  place  in  the  sales  field  for  a  pessimist.  Business 
men  have  troubles  enough  of  their  own  to  think  about  without 
listening  to  the  gloomy  statements  and  prophecies  of  animated 
crape-hangers.  The  salesman  should  always  be  the  bearer  of 
good  tidings.  If  he  takes  proper  care  of  himself,  lives  a  tem- 
perate life  and  cultivates  a  cheerful  disposition,  he  cannot 
help  being  an  optimist.  If  he  has  a  friendly,  sunshiny  smile — 
one  that  warms  and  cheers  those  upon  whom  it  is  bestowed — he 
has  an  asset  that  is  worth  a  million  dollars  even  though  he  may 
never  be  able  to  cash  in  upon  it  to  that  extent. 

He  Must  Have  Enthusiasm. — Without  enthusiasm  the  adver- 
tising salesman  will  make  slow  progress.  If  he  is  in  poor  health, 
does  not  love  his  work,  or  has  little  or  no  confidence  in  his  medium 
as  a  producer  of  results,  he  cannot  arouse  enthusiasm  in  others. 
In  order  to  impress  people  with  the  worth  of  your  publication  you 
must  believe  in  it  yourself — not  in  a  half-hearted  manner,  but 
with  your  entire  being.  It  may  not  be  the  best  or  the  most 
popular  medium,  but  if  it  possesses  real  merit  and  the  men  behind 
it  have  your  confidence  because  of  their  character  and  ability, 
you  can  go  out  and  fight  for  business  with  an  enthusiasm  that 
will  kindle  the  interest  of  advertisers  and  produce  contracts  for 
space.  Enthusiasm  that  is  born  of  conviction  is  the  kind  that 
moves  men  to  action.  The  salesman  who  has  it  finds  it  invalu- 
able in  winning  the  attention  of  prospects.  It  helps  him  to 


THE  ADVERTISING  SALESMAN  275 

overcome  their  apathy,  their  indifference,  and  sometimes  even 
their  open  hostility.  But  be  sure  that  your  enthusiasm  is 
genuine  and  not  counterfeit,  as  the  advertiser  is  quick  to  detect 
insincerity  and  bluff. 

The  advertising  salesman  should  have  as  complete  a  knowl- 
edge of  his  publication  as  possible — not  alone,  as  to  what  it 
prints  but  where  and  among  whom  it  circulates  and  what  re- 
sults it  gets  for  advertisers.  Failure  to  get  results  is  more  often 
due  to  defects  in  the  plan  of  campaign  than  to  the  medium, 
once  the  medium  is  intelligently  selected.  Consequently  the 
advertising  salesman  should  know  how  and  why  advertisers 
who  have  secured  good  results  achieved  their  success,  so  that 
they  may  give  prospective  customers  the  benefit  of  that  ex- 
perience. He  must  be  able  to  visualize  the  tangible  out  of  the 
seemingly  intangible. 

Perseverance  a  Necessary  Qualification. — The  selling  of  ad- 
vertising is  not  by  any  means  a  lazy  man's  job.  It  is  hard  work 
and  calls  for  the  continuous  exercise  of  every  faculty  you  possess. 
In  no  business  or  profession  is  there  greater  need  of  persistency 
and  perseverance.  Prospects  are  not  easily  persuaded  to  become 
advertisers.  Contracts  are  rarely  signed  as  the  result  of  the 
first  interview.  It  is  only  after  they  have  been  called  upon  many 
times  that  manufacturers  or  merchants  are  won  over  to  your 
proposition. 

William  C.  Freeman,  formerly  advertising  manager  of  the 
Evening  Mail  and  of  the  New  York  American,  in  telling  of  his 
experiences  as  an  advertising  solicitor,  says: 

"In  my  earlier  career,  I  called  on  a  man  once  a  week  for  seventy- 
eight  weeks,  each  time  taking  less  than  five  minutes,  but  I  tried  to  say 
something  interesting  in  one  minute,  giving  the  other  four  minutes  to 
the  man  himself. 

"On  the  seventy-eighth  call  he  gave  me  a  25-line  advertisement, 
which  cost  him  $5.00.  He  gave  me  $5.00  ads  for  three  weeks;  then  he 
increased  them  to  $10.00,  $15.00,  and  so  on.  At  the  end  of  eighteen 
months  he  had  spent  $35,000.  He  is  an  advertiser  to-day." 

Mr.  Freeman's  experience  is  not  unusual.  A  dozen  instances 
might  be  cited  in  which  publishers'  representatives  have 


276  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

regularly  called  upon  prospective  advertisers  from  one  to  three 
years  before  they  secured  a  single  order  for  space.  It  requires 
great  patience  to  keep  up  this  kind  of  work,  especially  when  the 
solicitor  has  no  means  of  knowing  whether  he  will  ever  be  able 
to  secure  a  contract.  Of  course,  after  he  is  convinced  that  it 
would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  continue  his  calls  he  drops  the 
prospect  from  his  list  and  finds  a  more  promising  one  to  take 
his  place. 

There  are  many  reasons  why  it  sometimes  takes  so  long  to 
land  an  advertiser.  If  the  solicitor  represents  an  advertising 
agency  and  he  is  endeavoring  to  secure  the  account  of  a  manu- 
facturer who  has  never  advertised  before,  he  must,  before  pre- 
senting the  advantages  of  the  agency's  service,  convince  him 
that  advertising  is  an  economic  force  through  the  employment 
of  which  it  is  possible  to  market  his  product  to  better  advan- 
tage than  is  possible  in  any  other  way.  This  takes  time,  owing  to 
the  difficulty  he  experiences  in  securing  interviews  with  the  pros- 
pect and  the  latter 's  reluctance  to  discuss  the  subject  of  advertis- 
ing, concerning  which  he  may  have  some  uncomplimentary 
opinions.  When  the  salesman  has  at  length  "sold"  him  on  the 
advantages  of  advertising,  his  next  important  problem  is  to  prove 
to  him  that  the  agency  he  represents  can  give  him  superior 
service  in  handling  his  advertising  interests.  And,  finally,  the 
solicitor  must  get  the  prospect  to  sign  a  contract  authorizing 
the  agency  to  plan  and  carry  out  a  well-defined  advertising 
campaign. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  easy  to  see  why  patience  and 
persistency  are  so  vitally  necessary  in  soliciting  advertising.  If 
the  salesman  fails  to  keep  after  the  prospect  when  he  has  once 
gained  his  attention,  if  he  allows  his  enthusiasm  to  peter  out, 
or  if  he  neglects  to  supply  the  information  asked  for,  he  is  likely 
to  lose  all  chances  of  landing  him  as  a  client.  The  number  of 
calls  a  solicitor  can  make  in  a  day  depends  upon  the  distance  he 
travels,  the  success  he  has  in  finding  the  advertiser  in  and  willing 
to  see  him,  the  length  of  the  interviews,  etc.  Twelve  or  fifteen 
in  the  larger  cities  is  about  the  limit. 

Four  Elements  Necessary  to  a  Sale. — The  elements  entering 
into  a  sale,  whether  of  advertising  or  of  merchandise,  are:  (1)  the 


THE  ADVERTISING  SALESMAN  277 

article  to  be  sold;  (2)  the  buyer;  (3)  the  salesman,  and  (4)  the 
profit.  Unless  there  is  a  profit  the  transaction  is  not  a  sale, 
but  merely  an  exchange.  "Successful  selling  is  the  art  of  apply- 
ing to  a  prospective  customer  at  the  proper  time  and  place  the 
intimate  knowledge  held  by  a  competent  person  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  the  goods  he  is  handling."  This  definition,'  given  by 
Eugene  L.  Markey,  for  many  years  sales  manager  of  the  Duplex 
Printing  Press  Company,  is  worth  remembering.  It  does  not  re- 
quire much  skill  to  sell  goods  at  less  than  cost  or  their  real  worth 
to  the  purchaser.  Any  fool  can  give  them  away.  Such  a  sales- 
man would  not  last  long  on  the  payroll  of  his  employer.  The 
advertising  salesman  whose  services  are  in  demand  is  the  one 
who  can  sell  space  in  a  publication  at  regular  rates  and  therefore 
does  not  need  to  cut  them  to  get  business. 

Salesmen  are  employed  by  advertising  agencies,  by  newspaper 
and  periodical  publishers,  by  manufacturers  of  advertising 
specialties,  by  firms  or  companies  engaged  in  selling  street  car, 
poster,  electric  light  and  window  display  advertising.  Because 
of  the  wide  variety  of  mediums  the  solicitor  can  find  at  least  one 
among  them  that  specially  appeals  to  him.  Some  salesman  are 
most  successful  in  selling  newspaper  and  magazine  advertising, 
while  others  score  heaviest  in  selling  street  car  or  outdoor  ad- 
vertising. The  best  advice  that  can  be  given  to  the  beginner  is: 
Select  the  medium  that  you  will  most  enjoy  working  for  and 
which  promises  you  a  good  return  for  your  services.  When 
you  have  made  your  choice  stick  to  it  no  matter  what  happens, 
unless,  after  a  thorough  tryout,  you  become  convinced  that  you 
are  not  adapted  to  the  work.  It  is  better  to  discover  your  in- 
capacity early  in  your  career  and  take  up  another  medium  than 
it  is  to  go  on  for  two  or  three  years  knowing  that  you  can  do 
better  at  something  else,  and  that  you  are  thoroughly  dissatisfied 
with  your  lot.  That  man  is  happiest  and  does  his  best  who  is 
engaged  in  an  occupation  that  he  likes. 

Problems  of  the  Salesman. — Lack  of  preparation  before 
interviewing  a  prospective  advertiser  is  often  the  cause  of  the 
salesman's  failure  to  land  a  contract.  Assuming  that  he  knows 
all  there  is  to  know  about  his  medium  and  other  mediums  in  its 
field,  and  about  the  results  that  have  been  secured  through  the 


278  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

use  of  its  columns,  he  is  not  in  a  position  to  make  the  most  out 
of  his  first  interview.  Before  calling  upon  the  prospect  he 
should  find  out  all  he  can  about  him  and  his  business.  He  should 
know  something  about  his  product — if  he  is  a  national  advertiser, 
how  the  product  is  regarded  by  the  trade,  how  it  is  distributed, 
and  how  and  to  what  extent  it  has  been  advertised. 

With  this  information  in  hand  the  salesman  should  decide  in 
what  way  his  medium  or  agency  can  be  of  service  to  the  prospect, 
so  that  when  he  makes  his  first  call  he  will  have  something  definite 
to  suggest.  The  salesman  who  bases  his  appeal  for  a  contract 
on  the  argument  that  because  the  manufacturer's  advertising 
is  appearing  in  a  rival  publication  it  ought  also  to  appear  in  his, 
is  making  the  weakest  kind  of  a  canvass.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
he  can  present  a  single  practical  suggestion  of  value  to  the 
advertiser  he  will  secure  at  once  the  latter's  attention  and  in- 
terest, and  in  the  end  may  obtain  an  order  from  him. 

Be  of  Service  to  the  Advertiser. — It  is  well  to  remember  that 
in  selling  advertising  the  salesman  should  continually  keep  in 
mind  the  idea  of  being  helpful  to  the  advertiser.  The  appeal 
should  never  be,  "We  need  your  support  because  we  are  publish- 
ing a  newspaper  or  periodical  that  is  of  benefit  to  the  public," 
but  rather,  "We  can  be  of  service  to  you  by  introducing  your 
product  to  thousands  of  our  readers  who  have  the  money  to  buy 
it."  It  is  this  idea  of  service  to  the  advertiser  that  ought  to  be 
emphasized  in  all  soliciting  interviews.  Manufacturers  want 
to  increase  their  sales  and  widen  their  influence  in  their  own  field. 
How  to  achieve  these  results  at  a  minimum  of  cost  is  their  ever- 
present  problem.  If  a  salesman  can  throw  any  light  upon  the 
subject  he  is  rendering  a  service  to  the  prospect  that  he  will  not 
soon  forget.  If  you  show  him  that  you  are  posted  upon  condi- 
tions existing  in  his  line  of  business  and  know  what  you  are  talking 
about,  he  will  listen  to  what  you  have  to  say  with  keen  interest. 
There  is  nothing  that  will  more  quickly  exasperate  a  merchant 
than  the  misstatements  and  ignorance  of  a  salesman  who  under- 
takes to  enlighten  him  about  his  own  business. 

Some  Practical  Suggestions. — It  would  be  impossible  within 
the  limits  of  this  chapter  to  present  all  of  the  helpful  suggestions 
that  might  be  given  to  a  young  salesman.  Those  listed  below 


THE  ADVERTISING  SALESMAN  279 

have  been  crystallized  out  of  the  experiences  of  many  successful 
advertising  men  and  are  therefore  worth  remembering. 

Don't  Misrepresent  Your  Medium. — In  presenting  the  advan- 
tages of  your  medium  do  not  exaggerate  or  misrepresent  its 
merit.  Give  the  facts  about  its  circulation,  the  class  of  readers 
it  reaches  and  its  standing  in  its  field.  If  the  advertiser  finds 
that  you  have  lied  to  him  on  any  one  of  these  points  he  will  lose 
confidence  in  other  statements  you  may  make.  If  your  publica- 
tion is  not  suited  to  a  man's  business  don't  solicit  his  advertising. 
You  will  lose  a  commission  but  you  will  keep  your  self-respect. 
The  solicitor  who  induces  an  advertiser  to  take  space  in  a  publica- 
tion that  cannot  serve  his  interests  is  little  better  than  the 
dealer  in  gold  bricks. 

A  magazine  solicitor  who,  while  interviewing  an  advertiser, 
was  asked  how  many  inquiries  he  would  guarantee  from  one 
insertion  of  an  advertisement  in  his  publication,  replied,  "Not  a 
single  inquiry,  but  the  best  possible  publicity."  His  frankness 
had  its  own  reward,  for  the  prospect  in  giving  him  an  order  for 
six  pages  said,  "I  wouldn't  have  bought  a  line  in  your  magazine 
had  you  guaranteed  results/* 

It  is  not  as  difficult  for  an  advertiser  to  find  out  the  circulation 
of  a  periodical  as  it  was  a  few  years  ago,  when  publishers  either 
refused  to  quote  circulation  figures  or  exaggerated  them.  It  was 
not  unusual  in  those  days  to  claim  several  thousand  more  readers 
or  subscribers  than  it  had.  George  P.  Rowell  did  what  he  could 
to  induce  publications  listed  in  his  American  Newspaper  Direc- 
tory to  tell  the  truth  about  their  circulations.  He  went  so  far 
as  to  offer  $100  to  anyone  who  would  prove  that  a  publisher 
had  made  a  false  statement  in  his  directory.  He  paid  out  quite 
a  lot  of  money  in  this  way  but  the  effect  upon  circulation  state- 
ments was  beneficial. 

The  Audit  Bureau  of  Circulations,  to  which  a  large  number  of 
the  most  important  publications  now  belong,  has  done  more  to 
make  circulation  statements  believable  than  any  other  organiza- 
tion. It  has  the  full  confidence  of  advertisers  and  it  goes  a 
long  way  when  a  salesman,  in  soliciting  business,  says  that  his 
newspaper  is  a  member  of  the  A.  B.  C.  and  has  a  circulation  of 
so  many  thousand  copies.  There  is,  therefore,  no  sense  in  mis- 


280  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

representing  the  figures.  It  is  not  always  the  size  of  a  circulation 
that  determines  its  desirability  as  an  advertising  medium,  but  its 
quality.  Lord  Northcliffe,  London's  greatest  newspaper  and 
periodical  publisher,  when  he  was  known  as  Sir  Alfred  Harms- 
worth,  in  discussing  with  Manley  M.  Gillam,  of  the  New  York 
Herald,  the  European  edition  of  that  newspaper,  said: 

"The  Paris  Herald,  with  its  circulation  of  15,000  or  20,000 
copies,  is  more  valuable  than  the  750,000  or  800,000  of  the  London 
Mail.  My  papers  go  to  the  Continent  to  people  who  are  abroad 
to  make  money,  while  your  papers  go  to  people  who  are  abroad  to 
spend  money.  I  don't  hesitate  to  say  that,  for  such  advertising, 
your  paper  is  more  valuable  than  mine." 

In  presenting  to  an  advertiser  the  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  the  use  of  his  publication  the  solicitor  is  justified  in  making 
them  as  attractive  as  possible,  but  he  should  make  no  statements 
that  he  cannot  prove. 

Don't  Knock  Your  Competitors. — It  is  not  good  business  to 
attack  other  mediums  in  your  field  in  an  effort  to  make  your  own 
appear  to  better  advantage  in  the  eyes  of  the  prospect.  The 
man  to  whom  you  are  talking  may  know  some  one  connected 
with  the  publication  that  you  are  saying  uncomplimentary 
things  about  and  resent  your  remarks,  although  he  may  not 
open  his  mouth.  Moreover,  it  is  human  nature  to  take  the  side 
of  any  one  who  is  being  attacked.  A  salesman  had  made  fine 
progress  toward  securing  a  contract  from  a  large  manufacturer, 
when,  in  order  to  strengthen  the  position  of  the  newspaper  he 
represented,  he  began  to  knock  his  chief  competitor.  The  ad- 
vertiser, after  listening  to  him  for  a  few  moments,  with  an 
impatience  that  he  made  no  effort  to  conceal,  exclaimed, 

"After  what  you  have  said  about  the I  wouldn't  give  you 

an  order  for  space  under  any  consideration.  You  evidently 
thought  that  I  had  no  knowledge  concerning  it  and  therefore 
would  believe  anything  you  might  say  to  its  discredit.  I  happen 
to  be  a  small  stockholder  in  that  paper  and  know  that  the  state- 
ments you  have  made  are  untrue.  I  don't  want  to  have  anything 
further  to  do  with  you." 

Know  When  to  Stop  Talking. — If  you  have  been  given  an 
opportunity  to  present  your  medium  say  what  you  have  to  say 


THE  ADVERTISING  SALESMAN  281 

briefly  and  to  the  point.  You  should  have  your  arguments  so 
well  thought  out  and  arranged  beforehand  that  you  waste  no 
words.  Your  line  of  talk  is  suggested  by  the  questions  of  the 
prospect  or  the  circumstances  under  which  you  are  addressing 
him.  A  good  salesman  doesn't  prepare  a  set  speech  which  he 
delivers  as  soon  as  he  finds  himself  alone  with  the  prospect.  A 
parrot-like  canvass  is  a  bore.  No  business  man  wants  to  listen 
to  it.  Let  what  you  have  to  say  be  spontaneous  and  expressed 
in  the  language  of  the  moment.  If  you  know  your  medium, 
as  you  should,  and  are  full  of  facts  about  it  that  are  of  interest 
and  value  to  advertisers,  you  will  have  no  difficulty  in  putting 
your  message  across.  You  should  know  when  you  are  through, 
when  it  is  time  to  ask  the  prospect  to  put  his  name  on  the  dotted 
line.  We  have  heard  of  instances  in  which  salesmen,  after  hav- 
ing sold  the  advertiser  on  their  proposition,  have  kept  on  talking 
untO  they  have  unsold  him.  If  the  prospect  wants  more  time  to 
consider  the  matter,  or  if,  for  some  reason,  his  mind  is  preoccupied 
and  he  does  not  give  your  statements  the  attention  they  deserve, 
don't  argue  with  him  further.  Wait  until  another  time  to 
complete  the  canvass.  Whether  your  reception  has  been  cordial 
or  not  always  leave  the  door  open  behind  you,  figuratively  speak- 
ing, so  that  you  can  return. 

Closing  the  Sale. — dowry  Chapman,  author  of  "The  Law  of 
Advertising  and  Sales,"  in  an  address  before  the  advertising  staff 
of  the  New  York  Times,  said: 

"Cold  and  abstract  logic  never  closed  a  sale  unless  accompanied 
by  some  suggestion  that  created  a  mental  image  of  the  prospect's  con- 
dition and  needs,  and  converted  an  impression  into  an  impulse.  It  is 
not  always  possible  to  create  these  mental  images  during  an  interview. 
Sometimes  they  precede  and  sometimes  they  follow  an  interview. 
Sometimes  they  are  not  created  by  the  spoken  word  at  all  but  by  some 
visible  impression." 

If  the  mental  image  created  through  suggestion  is  strong  and 
appealing,  the  impulse  naturally,  but  not  always,  follows.  A 
single  valuable  idea  presented  to  a  prospect  by  a  solicitor  will, 
in  almost  an  instant,  produce  a  favorable  reaction.  In  selling 
advertising  for  a  publication  devoted  to  the  newspaper  industry 
the  writer  interviewed  the  owner  of  a  daily  that  had  led  all 


282  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

others  in  the  volume  of  advertising  printed  during  the  year. 
The  advertising  manager  said  that  his  chief  was  a  hard  man  to 
get  any  advertising  out  of  and  doubted  very  much  whether  he 
could  be  landed.  The  interview  with  the  owner  did  not  last  ten 
minutes  but  it  resulted  in  an  order  for  advertising.  What 
won  him  over  was  the  argument  that  having  carried  more  ad- 
vertising in  his  newspaper  than  any  one  of  the  great  dailies  of 
New  York  and  Chicago,  he  ought  to  tell  newspaper  publishers, 
as  well  as  national  advertisers,  about  it  and  thus  add  to  his 
paper's  prestige  and  at  the  same  time  call  attention  to  its  stand- 
ing as  an  advertising  medium.  In  other  words,  the  appeal  was 
to  his  pride  and  his  business  acumen.  The  mental  image  created 
by  the  suggestion  was  so  attractive  and  convincing  that  he  was 
impelled  to  respond. 

For  years  the  salesmen  of  the  National  Cash  Register  Company 
tried  to  secure  a  hearing  from  George  Gould  when  he  was 
actively  engaged  in  the  railroad  business,  but  failed.  Finally, 
they  prepared  and  sent  him  a  catalog  printed  on  Japan  paper  and 
bound  in  vellum,  with  his  crest  inscribed  in  gold  on  the  cover. 
This  was  enclosed  in  a  leather  case  and  securely  locked.  From 
the  number  of  orders  sent  in  by  Mr.  Gould's  railroads  shortly 
after  he  had  received  it,  it  was  evident  that  the  catalog  with 
its  attractive  illustrations  and  typography  had  won  him  over. 

Some  solicitors  have  trouble  in  closing  the  sale.  They  are 
able  to  present  their  proposition  in  such  a  way  as  to  interest  the 
prospect,  but  when  it  comes  to  getting  his  signature  to  a  contract 
they  have  great  difficulty.  The  Western  representative  of  a 
New  York  magazine  had  a  particularly  hard  case  to  deal  with. 
He  couldn't  seem  to  bring  the  advertiser  to  the  sticking-point  and 
so  when  the  New  York  manager  came  to  Chicago  on  business  he 
asked  him  to  call  with  him  on  the  prospect.  The  interview 
lasted  perhaps  half  an  hour,  the  manager  leading  the  conversation 
and  confining  his  remarks  to  general  topics.  Several  times  the 
prospect  tried  to  open  up  the  subject  of  advertising  but  each 
time  the  manager  parried,  much  to  the  amazement  of  the  Western 
representative  who,  when  they  left,  asked  him  why  he  had  not 
allowed  the  man  to  talk  about  advertising. 

"Bet  you  a  gold  watch,"  the  manager  answered,  "the  next 


THE  ADVERTISING  SALESMAN  283 

time  you  call  on  him  you'll  get  an  order."  And  sure  enough 
his  prophecy  came  true.  What  the  manager  had  done  was  to 
create  desire  without  seemingly  making  an  attempt  to  do  so. 

Don't  afford  the  advertiser  a  chance  to  give  you  a  flat  refusal  to 
buy  what  you  have  to  sell.  Assume  that  he  will  eventually  give 
you  an  order  and  that  the  delay  is  due  to  reasons  that  will  shortly 
be  overcome.  It  takes  some  men  a  long  time  to  make  up  their 
minds.  If  you  force  them  to  an  early  decision  it  is  likely  to  be 
unfavorable.  Be  patient,  keep  your  temper  however  exasperat- 
ing the  delay  or  how  cavalierly  you  are  treated.  Make  the 
prospect  feel  that  you  are  more  anxious  to  serve  him  than  you 
are  to  earn  a  commission.  If  you  personally  make  a  good 
impression  upon  him  through  your  unfailing  courtesy  and  your 
consideration  of  his  interests,  the  turn-down  of  to-day  may  be- 
come a  contract  to-morrow. 

Advantage  of  Knowing  How  to  Prepare  Copy. — The  solicitor 
who  understands  advertisement  layout  and  copy  construction 
has  a  distinct  advantage  over  the  one  who  does  not.  Through 
his  close  contact  with  the  prospect  or  the  client  and  the  business 
he  represents  he  can  make  suggestions  and  submit  plans  that 
would  not  occur,  perhaps,  to  the  solicitor  who  has  had  no  practical 
experience  in  the  preparation  of  copy.  He  not  only  strengthens 
his  hold  on  the  advertiser  but  he  enhances  his  own  value  to  the 
periodical  or  the  agency  he  represents.  A  working  knowledge  of 
copy-writing  can  be  acquired  through  study  in  the  courses  of 
advertising  provided  by  the  Y.M.C.A.,  by  schools,  colleges  and 
universities.  As  instruction  is  given  in  evening  classes  in  most 
of  these  institutions  when  they  are  located  in  large  cities,  it  is 
possible  for  the  young  solicitor  to  attend  them  without  interfering 
with  his  daily  occupation.  When  instruction  of  this  kind  is  not 
available  the  correspondence  school  courses  will  be  found  exceed- 
ingly helpful. 

Best  Time  for  Interviews. — Salesmen  who  have  been  long 
in  the  advertising  field  do  not  agree  as  to  when  the  first  calls  of 
the  day  should  be  made.  Business  men  do  not  usually  fix 
appointments  much  earlier  than  10  or  11  o'clock,  unless  their 
offices  are  open  at  8  o'clock.  They  devote  the  first  hour  of 
the  day  to  looking  over  the  morning's  mail,  dictating  letters 


284  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

and  giving  instructions  to  their  assistants.  If  conferences  with 
department  heads  or  associates  are  scheduled  they  may  take 
up  the  entire  forenoon.  When  salemen's  calls  are  made  before 
the  luncheon  hour  the  time  chosen  should  be  between  10  and 
12 : 30  o'clock.  Several  salesmen  have  told  me  that  they  are 
much  more  liable  to  find  advertisers  in  and  willing  to  see  them 
after  lunch  than  before,  as  they  are  then  through  with  the  most 
strenuous  work  of  the  day,  and  having  had  something  to  eat  and 
smoked  a  good  cigar,  they  are  more  approachable  and  in  a  more 
receptive  frame  of  mind.  Most  business  men  are  at  their  offices 
until  5  o'clock  and  make  appointments  up  to  that  hour. 

If  possible  it  is  advisable  to  secure  an  appointment  with  the 
prospect  by  letter  or  by  telephone  in  advance  of  your  call.  It 
saves  time  and  enables  you  to  arrange  your  day's  work  to  the 
best  advantage.  When  you  arrive  at  your  office  in  the  morning 
you  should  spend  the  first  hour  in  arranging  the  day's  schedule 
and  in  preparing  for  the  interviews  you  expect  to  have.  Don't 
waste  time  sitting  around  the  office.  Get  out  on  your  rounds  as 
soon  as  you  can  and  make  a  definite  number  of  calls  every  day. 
If  you  keep  a  memorandum  of  the  results  of  these  calls  the 
information  will  help  you  in  future  interviews.  Don't  be  super- 
stitious. Friday  is  just  as  good  a  day  for  doing  business  as 
Monday  or  Wednesday. 

Questions 

1.  What  does  the  advertising  solicitor  sell  besides  white  space? 

2.  Why  is  it  desirable  that  he  possess  a  good  education? 

3.  In  what  way  does  a  pleasing  personality  contribute  to  his  success? 

4.  Why  are  enthusiasm  and  perseverance  necessary  qualifications? 

6.  Why  does  it  sometimes  take  months  to  get  a  contract  from  an  ad- 
vertiser? 

6.  What  four  elements  enter  into  a  sale? 

7.  What  are  some  of  the  things  to  be  considered  by  a  young  man  in 
selecting  the  medium  he  is  to  represent? 

8.  What  preparation  should  a  solicitor  make  before  calling  upon  a 
prospect  for  the  first  time? 

9.  How  can  a  solicitor  be  of  service  to  the  advertiser? 

10.  Why  is  truth-telling  essential  in  selling  advertising? 

11.  What  should  be  the  salesman's  attitude  toward  competitors? 


THE  ADVERTISING  SALESMAN  285 

12.  Give   several  practical   suggestions   concerning   the    canvass    of    a 
prospect. 

13.  What  are  some  of  the  things  that  help  in  closing  a  contract? 

14.  Give  Clowry  Chapman's  views  on  the  subject. 

16.  Is  a  knowledge  of  copy-writing  helpful  to  a  solicitor?     In  what  ways? 
16.  What  are  the  best  times  in  the  day  to  interview  an  advertiser  or  a 
prospect? 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
HOW  TRADE-MARKS  HELP  THE  ADVERTISER 

Andrew  Carnegie,  in  addressing  the  graduating  class  at 
Stevens  Institute,  on  one  occasion  said:  "Young  man,  make 
your  name  worth  something.  If  you  can  sell  a  hat  for  $1  you 
can  sell  it  for  $2  if  you  stamp  it  with  your  name  and  make  the 
public  feel  that  your  name  stands  for  something."  Mr.  Carnegie 
probably  did  not  know  that  in  these  few  words  he  embodied  the 
philosophy  of  the  trade-mark. 

Roy  W.  Johnson,  an  expert  authority,  says:  "A  trade-mark  is 
a  symbol  attached  to  the  goods  which  indicates  their  origin." 
Another  writer  has  defined  it  as  "a  symbol  or  device  used  to 
identify  goods  or  service." 

A  trade-mark,  however,  does  something  more  than  identify  the 
product  or  service: 

1.  It  safeguards  the  consumer  against  substitution  and  imita- 
tions.    The  buyer  who  knows  and  likes  the  merchandise,  and  is 
familiar  with  its  trade-mark,  is  not  to  be  put  off  with  another 
brand  that  is  "just  as  good."     He  insists  on  getting  what  he 
calls  for  and  if  he  cannot  get  it  in  one  store  he  will  go  to  another, 
and  so  on  until  he  finds  what  he  wants. 

2.  It    protects    the    manufacturer's    sales.     The    dealer    who 
handles  his  goods  knows  it  is  for  his  interest  to  sell  them  because 
they  are  so  well  advertised  that  he  needs  spend  but  little  time  or 
effort  in  trying  to  interest  his  own  customers  in  them.     Virtually 
the  goods  are  already  sold  when  he  puts  them  on  his  shelves. 

3.  Trade-marked  goods,  intelligently  advertised,  yield  the  manu- 
facturer a  larger  return  for  his  labor,  and  are  usually  purchased 
by  the  consumer  at  a  lower  price.     The  greater  the  volume  of  sales 
the  lower  the  unit  cost  of  production.     This   means  that  the 
public  gets  a  better  article  at  a  less  price. 

4.  The  trade-mark  fixes  responsibility  and  assures  the  consumer 
that  the  manufacturer  will  maintain  the  standard  he  has  adopted 

286 


HOW  TRADEMARKS  HELP  THE  ADVERTISER          287 

for  his  product.  It  is,  of  course,  possible  for  a  manufacturer, 
after  he  has  established  his  market,  to  substitute  cheaper  ma- 
terials and  cheaper  workmanship;  and  while,  for  a  few  weeks, 
the  demand  would  continue  just  as  strong  as  before,  the  public 
would  soon  learn  of  the  deception,  the  trade-mark  would  become 
discredited  and  the  sales  would  fall  to  an  unprofitable  level. 
Any  deterioration  in  the  product  means  a  corresponding  decline 
in  the  value  of  the  trade-mark. 

But  whatever  other  missions  the  trade-mark  may  have,  its 
primary  and  most  important  function  is  to  identify  the  goods.  1 1 
enables  the  buyer  to  pick  out  of  a  dozen  articles  of  the  same  kind, 
the  products  of  as  many  manufacturers,  the  one  that  he  knows, 
from  experience  or  through  advertising,  to  be  the  article  he  wants. 
They  may  be  exactly  alike  in  physical  appearance  and  yet  the 
one  bearing  the  familiar  trade-mark  is  preferred  by  him  above  all 
the  others.  He  takes  greater  personal  enjoyment  out  of  its 
possession  because  of  the  prominence  given  it  in  the  advertising 
columns  of  the  newspapers,  and  because  he  has  been  led  to  appre- 
ciate its  qualities  through  the  same  medium.  A  woman  when 
out  shopping  may  forget  the  brand  name  of  an  article  she  desires 
to  purchase,  but  if  she  knows  the  trade-mark  it  bears  she  will 
have  no  trouble  in  identifying  it  at  the  store.  A  little  girl  who 
had  been  sent  to  the  druggist  for  talcum  powder  asked  for  the 
kind  "with  a  face  on  it."  The  druggist  gave  her  a  box  with 
the  picture  of  a  baby  on  the  front.  "That  ain't  the  one," 
said  the  child  impatiently,  "I  want  the  one  with  a  man's 
face  on  it"  (Mennen's) — and  she  got  it. 

On  account  of  its  importance,  much  thought  and  study  should 
be  devoted  to  the  selection  of  a  trade-mark,  because  when  it  has 
once  been  adopted  and  registered  it  cannot  be  altered  or  changed 
without  imperiling  whatever'  good  will  or  other  value  it  may  have 
acquired  through  advertising  and  the  satisfactory  service  the 
article  has  rendered  the  consumer.  There  are  certain  principles 
which,  if  kept  in  mind  when  you  are  deciding  upon  a  trade-mark, 
will  save  considerable  expense  and  annoyance  in  the  future. 

A  trade-mark  may  be  a  word,  a  symbol,  or  a  picture;  or  it  may  consist 
of  a  combination  of  any  two  or  all  three  of  these  elements.  On 
another  page  may  be  seen  a  number  of  trade-marks  that  have 


288 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


(YALE-) 


A  group  of  trade-marks  that  have  been  made  famous  through  advertising. 


HOW  TRADE-MARKS  HELP  THE  ADVERTISER          289 

been  made  nationally  famous  through  advertising.  Most  of 
them  are  extremely  simple  in  design  and  are  easily  identified. 

Pictorial  Trade -marks. — The  pictorial  trade-mark  makes  the 
most  vivid  and  lasting  impression.  The  quaint  picture  of  the 
Dutch  housewife  chasing  dirt,  which  appears  on  every  can  of 
Old  Dutch  Cleanser,  has  been  considered  by  many  advertising 
experts  one  of  the  best  trade-marks  in  use  at  the  present  time. 
When  you  have  once  seen  it  and  understand  its  symbolism  you 
can  never  forget  it.  It  has  a  strong  individuality.  The  uplif ted 
stick,  the  hurrying  feet  and  the  pose  of  the  woman's  body — all 
indicate  aggressive  action.  You  feel  that  if  there  is  any  dirt 
concealed  in  the  kitchen  she  is  going  to  find  it  and  chase  it  away 
with  Old  Dutch  Cleanser. 

Another  conspicuous  example  of  the  pictorial  trade-mark  is 
that  of  the  Victor  Talking  Machine,  showing  a  dog  listening  at 
the  mouth  of  the  reproduction  horn  of  a  phonograph  to  "His 
Master's  Voice."  There  is  not  probably  in  the  United  States  a 
town  or  city  in  which  a  majority  of  those  who  read  the  newspapers 
or  magazines  are  not  familiar  with  the  Victor  trade-mark. 
Equally  well  known,  perhaps,  is  the  picture  of  the  Chocolate 
Girl  which,  for  nearly  half  a  century,  has  appeared  on  every 
package  of  chocolate  and  cocoa  made  by  Walter  Baker  &  Com- 
pany. The  Gold  Dust  Twins,  of  the  N.  K.  Fairbank  Company, 
is  another  distinguished  example  of  the  pictorial  trade-mark. 

Symbol  Trade -marks. — The  best  known  symbol  trade-mark  is 
probably  that  of  the  National  Biscuit  Company.  When  it  was 
first  adopted  in  1900  there  was  much  speculation  as  to  its  origin. 
Some  thought  it  was  an  adaptation  of  Plimsol's  mark  used  on  the 
hulls  of  English  ships  to  indicate  the  loading  limit.  W.  W.  Green, 
who  was  then  president  of  the  Company,  finally  ended  the  dis- 
cussion by  stating  that  it  was  the  symbol  employed  by  a  Venetian 
printer  several  hundred  years  ago  to  mark  the  products  of  his 
shop. 

Two  trade-marks  consisting  of  words  only  are  those  of  the  Yale 
and  Towne  Manufacturing  Company  and  Postum  Cereal. 
The  word  "YALE"  is  stamped  upon  every  lock  produced  by  the 
former  company.  Postum  Cereal  is  not  only  the  brand  name 
of  the  product  indicated,  but  it  is  also  its  trade-mark.  As  it 

19 


290 


ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 


THIS  tit  He  root-lettered"  word  b 
the  biggest  possible  cuurfntee  you 
can  have  of  quality,  security  and  fitness 
in  Locks,  Padlocks,  Ni'ghl-l.tclies. 
O«ir  Closers,  or  Builders'  Hardnnre. 
Back  of  this  guarantee  stands  an 
enviable  record  of  successful  achieve- 
ment, built  upon  better  goods,  made 
in  a  belter  plant,  and  by  better 
workmen. 

To  Uantmtn  <W«m 


. 
ffoodt  or  M//IM?  kilpi,  irriti  «• 

The  Yale  &  Towne  Mfg.   Co. 

tlikrn   of    TALE    ProducU:    Locks,    ritllocki. 
Oattmt  Ofatt   >  East  40tb  Su  New  York,  U.  S.  A. 


An  ingenious  way  of  impressing  a  trade-mark  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader. 


HOW  TRADE-MARKS  HELP  THE  ADVERTISER         291 

has  been  advertised  to  the  extent  of  over  a  million  and  a  half 
dollars  annually  for  the  past  fifteen  years,  Postum  has  become 
the  best-known  substitute  for  coffee  in  the  world. 

The  trade-mark  or  catch  phrase  should  be  in  some  way  associated 
with  the  name  or  some  particular  characteristic  of  the  goods.  A 
good  example  is  the  Prudential  Life  Insurance  Company's  Rock 
of  Gibraltar,  which  conveys  the  impression  of  solidity  and 
strength.  When  the  Eastman  Kodak  Company  adopted  the 
phrase,  "You  press  the  button,  we  do  the  rest,"  and  advertised 
it  extensively,  no  other  camera  was  being  exploited  in  the  news- 
papers and  magazines.  There  was  no  danger,  therefore,  that 
the  public  would  associate  the  slogan  with  any  other  make  than 
the  Kodak,  itself  a  coined  word. 

Avoid  the  Use  of  Descriptive  Words. — "Premier, "  "De  Luxe, " 
"Exclusive"  and  "Quality"  sound  well  and  look  well  in  print, 
especially  when  the  lettering  is  distinctive,  but  as  trade-marks 
they  are  a  delusion  and  a  snare,  for  the  reason  that  other  manu- 
facturers cannot  be  prevented  from  employing  them  as  descriptive 
adjectives.  If  you  cannot  be  protected  in  the  exclusive  use  of 
a  word  of  this  kind,  except  under  extraordinary  conditions,  why 
use  it  as  a  part  of  your  trade-mark? 

Use  of  Geographical  Terms  and  Family  Names  Should  Be 
Avoided. — If  you  were  a  manufacturer  of  furniture  at  Grand 
Rapids,  Michigan,  it  would  look  like  a  good  advertising  propo- 
sition to  use  as  a  distinctive  feature  of  your  trade-mark  the 
words  "Made  in  Grand  Rapids"  or  just  "Grand  Rapids"  and 
thus  identify  your  products  with  the  leading  furniture  manu- 
facturing center  of  the  country.  And  so  it  would,  but  every 
manufacturer  in  Grand  Rapids  has  a  right  to  say  that  his  goods 
are  made  there  and  mark  the  name  upon  them.  In  other  words, 
there  can  be  no  exclusive  use  of  the  name  of  the  furniture  city. 
Therefore,  you  can  see  why  it  is  inadvisable  to  use  it  in  your 
trade-mark.  The  same  thing  might  be  said  about  other  cities 
that  are  identified  with  certain  industries. 

Family  names  are  identified  with  some  very  well-known  lines 
of  merchandise.  But  that  does  not  make  them  good  trade- 
marks. The  fact  that  they  are  well-known  leads  to  constant 
attempts  at  infringement,  and  a  family  name  is  extremely  dim- 


292  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

cult  to  protect  against  others  who  have  a  right  to  use  the  same 
name.  The  courts  will  not  prevent  a  man  from  using  his  own 
family  name,  and  it  is  a  source  of  constant  expense  and  vexa- 
tion to  attempt  to  maintain  exclusive  rights  to  the  use  of  such 
a  name  as  a  trade-mark.  And  always  bear  in  mind  that  a 
trade-mark  is  not  a  good  trade-mark  unless  you  can  maintain 
an  exclusive  right  to  its  use  as  a  trade-mark. 

The  right  to  exclude  all  others  from  its  use  is  the  very 
essence  of  a  trade-mark. 

In  marketing  a  new  product,  however,  the  use  of  the  manu- 
facturer s  name  as  a  part  of  a  trade-mark  should  be  avoided. 
You  cannot  prevent  other  manufacturers  from  tying  their  names 
to  their  own  products.  If  their  names  happened  to  be  the  same 
as  yours  you  would  have  no  advantage  over  them,  as  consumers 
would  be  unable  to  distinguish  between  them.  Moreover,  in 
most  cases,  other  words  can  be  found  that  will  convey  an  idea  of 
quality  or  of  utility  or  some  other  characteristic  of  the  article 
that  will  help  sales.  Educator  is  a  better  name  for  a  shoe  than 
Douglas  or  Hanan  because  it  implies,  in  children's  shoes,  the 
training  of  children's  feet  in  the  way  they  should  walk. 

Coined  Words. — Some  of  the  most  successful  trade-marks  and 
brand  names  have  been  coined  words.  Uneeda,  O-Cedar, 
Sapolio,  Pianola,  Kodak,  Nabisco  and  Socony  belong  to  this 
class.  The  origin  of  some  of  these  coined  names  is  interesting. 
Nabisco  is  a  word  formed  by  combining  the  first  letters  of  the 
words,  "National  Biscuit  Company."  In  the  same  way  Socony  is 
formed  of  the  first  letters  in  the  name  of  the  Standard  Oil 
Company  of  New  York. 

The  brand  or  trade-mark  name  should  be  short,  easy  to  pro- 
nounce and  not  hard  to  remember.  Long  words  are  cumbersome, 
difficult  to  fix  in  the  mind  and  take  up  too  much  space.  If  a 
name  is  difficult  to  pronounce  people  will  hesitate  to  ask  for  it 
at  the  stores  for  fear  they  will  betray  their  ignorance  through 
its  mispronunciation.  It  has  been  stated  that  the  manufac- 
turers of  Bon  Ami,  an  extensively  advertised  kitchen  cleanser, 
have  lost  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  in  sales  because  the 
women  who  would  like  to  buy  it  did  not  know  how  to  pronounce 
the  name. 


HOW  TRADE-MARKS  HELP  THE  ADVERTISER         293 

Words  from  foreign  languages,  unless  they  have  become 
familiar  through  constant  use  in  advertisements  and  in  news- 
paper articles,  should  be  avoided.  Only  a  small  proportion  of 
our  population  can  read  or  speak  French,  Italian,  Spanish,  or 
German.  Therefore,  why  adopt  words  from  those  languages 
when  80  or  90  per  cent,  of  your  audience  would  not  know  what 
they  mean? 

Select  a  Name  That  Will  Be  Original  and  Distinctive. — Com- 
monplace names  like  Star,  Diamond,  Arrow  and  Shield  have  been 
worn  threadbare  through  constant  use  during  the  past  half 
century  and  therefore  should  not  be  adopted.  Choose  one  that 
is  simple  and  contains  but  one  concept  or  idea.  If  it  contains 
two  or  more  it  is  apt  to  be  confusing.  Better  by  far  one  strong 
forceful  point  than  several  weak  ones. 

When  you  have  finally  decided  upon  your  trade-mark  the  next 
thing  to  do  is  to  find  out  whether  it  has  already  been  adopted  by 
someone  else.  It  not  unusually  happens  that  the  trade-mark 
upon  which  you  have  expended  much  thought,  and  which  you 
felt  confident  was  a  distinct  departure  from  the  conventional 
trade-mark,  was  designed  and  registered  years  ago.  The  govern- 
ment at  Washington  has  a  record  of  every  trade-mark  that  has 
been  registered.  By  consulting  this  record  you  can  ascertain 
whether  any  trade-mark  similar  to  yours  has  previously  been 
registered. 

How  to  Proceed. — The  person  who  wishes  to  register  a  trade- 
mark makes  application  to  the  Patent  Office  according  to 
required  form.  The  application  and  the  name  and  symbol  are 
printed  in  the  Patent  Office  Gazette,  and  if,  at  the  end  of  a  month, 
no  one  has  entered  an  opposition  the  trade-mark  is  confirmed. 
If  you  value  your  trade-mark  you  should  watch  carefully  the  new 
applications  that  are  published  in  the  Gazette  from  month  to 
month.  Should  anyone  attempt  to  register  an  infringement  on 
your  trade-mark  you  will  have  a  chance  to  stop  it  and  save  your- 
self endless  trouble  and  expense  later  on.  The  Patent  Office 
Gazette  carries  no  advertisements  and  is  sent  to  any  address  for 
$5  a  year. 

Term  of  Registration. — A  trade-mark  is  considered  by  many 
manufacturers  better  than  a  patent  which  runs  only  seventeen 


294  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

years  and  then  becomes  public  property.  Moreover,  while  a 
patent  protects  the  article  itself  it  affords  no  protection  to  the  de- 
mand for  that  article.  On  the  other  hand,  a  trade-mark  protects 
both  and  there  is  practically  no  limit  to  its  life,  and  its  value  in- 
creases from  year  to  year.  The  public  is  not  specially  interested 
in  a  patent  but  it  is  interested  in  a  trade-mark  because  it  is  the 
means  of  identifying  an  article  which  has  won  its  favor.  The 
trade-mark  protects  and  promotes  the  demand  as  well  as  the  com- 
modity itself.  The  trade-marking  of  goods  is  therefore  of  prime 
importance  to  the  manufacturer  if  they  are  to  be  exploited 
through  advertising. 

Cost  of  Registration. — The  cost  of  registering  a  trade-mark  in  the 
United  States,  including  the  lawyer's  fees,  is  $25,  and  the  term, 
twenty  years;  in  France,  $25,  and  the  period,  ten  years;  in 
England,  $35,  and  the  term,  fourteen  years;  in  Germany,  $40  to 
$45,  and  the  period,  ten  years;  in  Cuba,  $45,  for  fifteen  years; 
and  in  Japan  $75,  for  twenty  years.  In  most  of  the  countries 
represented  it  is  possible  to  get  a  renewal  of  the  registration 
period  by  the  payment  of  the  regular  fee. 

If  you  intend  to  do  an  export  business  it  is  extremely  important 
that  you  register  your  trade-mark  in  all  countries  in  which  you 
hope  to  establish  a  demand  for  your  products.  The  necessity  of 
doing  this  may  be  apparent  when  it  is  known  that  in  South 
America  it  is  possible  for  a  native  to  register  your  trade-mark  as 
his  own,  if  you  have  not  already  registered  it.  You  have  no  re- 
dress. The  only  thing  you  can  do  is  to  make  an  arrangement 
with  the  thief  under  which  he  will  allow  you  to  do  business. 

In  the  United  States  the  law  protects  the  public  by  protecting 
the  owner  of  the  mark.  The  consumer  has  a  right  to  depend 
upon  the  trade-mark  in  identifying  the  goods  which  won  his  favor 
by  reason  of  their  quality.  Anyone  who  imitates  a  registered 
trade-mark  can  be  prosecuted.  The  National  Biscuit  Company 
has  brought  action  against  dozens  of  manufacturers  who  repro- 
duced the  Uneeda  Biscuit  package  so  closely  that  many  people 
did  not  know  they  were  being  deceived.  The  object  of  these  imi- 
tations was,  of  course,  to  profit  from  the  demand  created  by  the 
extensive  advertising  of  the  National  Biscuit  Company. 

If  a  firm  adopts  a  trade-mark  and  fails  to  have  it  registered, 


HOW  TRADE-MARKS  HELP  THE  ADVERTISER         295 

and  another  concern  in  another  state  adopts  the  same  symbol  or 
device,  priority  of  use  would  determine  its  ownership.  Under 
the  court's  decision  the  losing  firm  would  be  compelled  to  abandon 
the  use  of  the  trade-mark  and  devise  another  to  take  its  place. 
This,  of  course,  involves  considerable  expense. 

Manufacturers  who  have  invested  large  amounts  of  money  in 
advertising  a  brand  name  or  trade-marked  product  are  careful 
to  avoid  doing  anything  that  will  lessen  the  good  will  that  the  ad- 
vertising has  created.  For  this  reason  they  will  not  try  to  palm 
off  on  their  dealers  "  seconds  "  as  "  firsts. "  Instead,  they  remove 
the  trade-mark  or  other  identifying  marks  and  sell  the  goods  to  a 
cheaper  grade  of  stores. 

The  government  issues  a  pamphlet  on  the  registration  of 
trade-marks  which  can  be  had  free  on  application  If  prospective 
advertisers  will  study  the  pamphlet  they  will  obtain  from  it  many 
helpful  suggestions  on  the  subject.  When  you  have  an  article 
for  which  a  demand  can  be  created,  and  an  appropriate  trade- 
mark by  which  it  can  be  identified,  you  have  the  materials  for 
the  foundation  of  a  good  business. 

What  May  Not  Be  Registered. — The  following  are  not  proper 
subjects  for  trade-mark  registration: 

1.  The  flag,  coat-of-arms,  or  other  insignia  of  the   United 
States,  or  any  other  municipality,  or  of  any  foreign  country. 

2.  Trade-marks  so  closely  resembling  trade-marks  already  in 
use  that  the  public  is  liable  to  be  deceived  by  them. 

3.  Names  of  persons,  firms,  or  corporations  not  written  on  or 
affixed  to  the  goods  in  some  distinctive  manner. 

4.  Descriptive  terms. 

5.  Geographical  and  descriptive  terms,  family  names,  insignia, 
etc.,  unless  in  use  since  February  21,  1895,  under  the  act  of 
1905. 

6.  Portraits   of  living  people   without   first  obtaining    their 
written  consent. 

How  the  Dealer  Is  Benefited  in  Handling  Trade -marked 
Merchandise. — From  the  retailer's  viewpoint  the  question  as  to 
whether  to  sell  goods  under  his  own  or  the  manufacturer's  trade- 
mark is  important.  Is  it  better  to  exploit  someone  else's  name 
than  your  own?  Why  should  you  help  build  up  a  reputation 


296  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

and  demand  for  a  branded  article  that  is  controlled  by  a  big 
manufacturer? 

If  you  wish  to  carry  the  entire  burden  of  advertising  and  do 
not  want  to  avail  yourself  of  any  help  the  manufacturer  can  give 
you  to  promote  your  sales  of  his  product,  there  is,  of  course,  only 
one  answer.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  you  desire  to  receive 
benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  extensive  advertising  campaigns 
carried  on  by  national  distributors  who  employ  experts  to  prepare 
copy  that  will  send  people  to  your  store  to  purchase  their 
products,  without  a  single  cent  of  expense  to  you,  then  you 
will  find  that  it  pays  to  handle  nationally  advertised  trade- 
marked  goods. 

A  merchant  who  owned  two  stores  in  different  cities  had  for 
several  years  sold  well-advertised  and  well-known  trade-marked 
men's  hats,  clothes,  shoes  and  underwear.  The  stores  had  been 
established  a  long  time  and  were  deservedly  popular  with  the 
people  hi  the  cities  where  they  were  located.  There  had  been 
a  question  in  his  mind  whether  he  would  not  be  better  off  finan- 
cially had  he  sold,  during  the  years  he  had  been  in  business,  goods 
bearing  his  own  name  and  trade-mark.  He  had  a  good  reputation 
and  his  customers  could  rely  upon  any  statement  made  about 
the  merchandise  he  handled. 

When  he  opened  a  third  store  he  concluded  to  put  the  matter 
to  the  test  by  stocking  it  with  identically  the  same  kind  of  goods 
sold  in  the  other  stores,  but  bearing  his  own  brand  names  instead 
of  those  of  the  manufacturers.  He  hired  the  best  advertising 
manager  he  could  find  to  write  the  advertisements  of  the  new 
store,  liberal  space  being  taken  in  the  local  newspapers. 

At  the  end  of  sixteen  months  the  merchant  went  to  the  manu- 
facturers and  told  them  frankly  that  his  policy  had  been  a  mis- 
taken one  as  business  at  the  end  of  the  third  selling  season  had 
not  been  at  all  satisfactory.  He  ordered  his  next  season's  stock 
made  up  with  the  manufacturers'  own  labels  attached,  and  when 
the  goods  were  delivered  he  devoted  his  advertising  to  talks  about 
their  well-known  brands. 

The  adoption  of  the  new  policy  had  an  immediate  effect  upon 
the  business  of  the  store.  More  people  responded  to  the  adver- 
tising and  the  volume  of  sales  showed  a  marked  improvement. 


HOW  TRADE-MARKS  HELP  THE  ADVERTISER         297 

At  the  end  of  three  seasons  (eighteen  months)  the  receipts  were 
several  times  greater  than  they  were  at  the  beginning. 

The  experience  of  this  merchant  shows  conclusively  that  in 
his  case,  at  least,  advertised  trade-marked  goods  were  more  profit- 
able for  him  to  handle  than  those  bearing  his  own  brand  names. 
Other  retailers  have  had  a  similar  experience. 

Questions 

1.  What  is  a  trade-mark? 

2.  What  four  things  does  it  do? 

3.  What  is  its  primary  function? 

4.  Of  what  may  a  trade-mark  consist?     Give  examples  of  each. 

6.  What  general  principle  should  govern  the  selection  of  a  trade-mark? 

6.  Why  should  descriptive  words  be  avoided? 

7.  Why  are  geographical  names  objectionable? 

8.  Should  proper  names  be  used?     Give  the  reasons. 

9.  What  are  the  characteristics  of  a  good  trade-mark? 

10.  How  do  you  register  a  trade-mark? 

11.  What  does  it  cost  and  what  is  the  period  of  registration? 

12.  If  you  are  engaged  in  the  export  business  why  is  it  necessary  to 
register  your  trade-mark  in  foreign  countries? 

13.  How  can  infringement  be  prevented  in  the  United  States? 

14.  What  service  does  the  U.  S.  Patent  Office  Gazette  render? 
16.  What  are  not  proper  subjects  for  registration? 

16.  Of  what  benefit  is  it  to  the  dealer  to  handle  trade-marked  merchandise? 

17.  Prepare  a  list  of  trade-marks  with  which  you  are  familiar. 

18.  Design  a  trade-mark  for  the  Mayflower  Brand  of  Ginger  Ale. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
THE  ECONOMICS  OF  ADVERTISING 

It  is  self-evident  that  no  business  will  show  a  profit  at  the  end 
of  the  year  unless  its  receipts  have  exceeded  its  expenditures. 
The  manufacturer,  for  instance,  must  get  back  what  he  has  paid 
out  before  he  can  realize  upon  his  investment.  Hence  the  price 
at  which  he  sells  his  products  must  not  only  include  the  cost  of 
raw  materials,  their  fabrication  into  the  finished  article,  and  the 
marketing,  but  also  a  reasonable  profit.  Advertising,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  is  a  selling  expense  and  hence  is  one  of  the 
items  upon  which  the  price  to  the  purchaser  is  based.  The 
answer  to  the  old  question,  "Who  pays  for  the  advertising?"  is, 
therefore,  "The  consumer."  No  matter  how  ingenious  the 
arguments  advanced  by  those  who  undertake  to  prove  that  the 
non-advertiser  or  someone  else  bears  the  burden,  the  fact  remains 
that  the  consumer,  and  he  alone,  foots  the  bill. 

Admitting,  then,  that  the  price  paid  by  the  purchaser  covers 
the  cost  of  advertising,  the  next  important  question  to  be  con- 
sidered is,  "Does  the  consumer  pay  more  for  the  merchandise 
than  he  would  if  no  money  were  spent  for  advertising?"  One 
of  the  chief  arguments  advanced  in  behalf  of  unadvertised  pro- 
ducts is  that  the  buyer  gets  as  good,  if  not  a  better  article  at  a 
lower  price  than  when  advertised  merchandise  is  purchased. 

If  advertising  only  benefited  the  manufacturer  this  would  be  a 
sound  argument,  but  it  so  happens  that  advertising  by  increasing 
the  demand  reduces  the  cost  of  production,  thus  enabling  the 
consumer  to  buy  a  better  article  at  the  same  price,  or  as  good  an 
article  at  a  lower  price  than  is  charged  for  unadvertised  goods. 
Let  us  consider  the  evidence  in  proof  of  this  statement. 

Advertising  Standardizes  Quality. — Advertising  standardizes 
the  quality  of  manufactured  products.  L.  D.  H.  Weld,  of  the 
Commercial  Research  Department  of  Swift  &  Company,  Chicago, 

298 


THE  ECONOMICS  OF  ADVERTISING  299 

and  formerly  professor  of  Business  Administration  at  Yale 
University,  in  discussing  this  subject  in  Printers'  Ink,  says; 

"The  standardization  of  quality  in  itself  is  a  benefit  to  con- 
sumers. The  buyer  of  an  advertised  article  knows  what  he  is 
getting ;  he  can  be  sure  that  it  is  as  nearly  like  his  previous  purchase 
of  the  same  brand  as  it  is  humanly  possible  to  make  it.  There 
may  be  and  undoubtedly  are  unadvertised  goods  that  are  equal 
in  quality  to  the  advertised  brands,  but  the  chances  are  that  the 
high  standard  of  quality  of  such  unadvertised  articles  has  been 
attained  in  an  effort  to  reach  or  to  surpass  the  standard  set  by 
the  advertised  articles." 

In  1914  Fruiters'  Ink  conducted  an  inquiry  to  ascertain  what 
effect  advertising  had  upon  the  quality  and  price  of  merchandise. 
Of  twenty-nine  firms  that  submitted  answers,  five  reported 
reduced  prices,  the  quality  remaining  the  same;  sixteen  reported 
prices  the  same,  but  quality  improved  or  being  improved,  and 
eight  firms  reported  prices  and  quality  the  same. 

Reduces  the  Cost  of  Marketing. — The  most  valuable  service 
advertising  renders  the  manufacturer,  next  to  increasing  the 
volume  of  his  sales,  is  in  reducing  the  cost  of  selling  his 
goods.  This  was  clearly  shown  in  the  Printers'  Ink  article  just 
mentioned. 

E.  A.  Mallory  &  Sons,  hat  manufacturers,  stated  that  since 
starting  to  advertise  in  1906  their  selling  cost  had  been  reduced 
by  17  per  cent,  or  at  the  rate  of  7  cents  a  hat,  which  more  than 
covered  the  amount  paid  for  advertising. 

Hart,  Schaffner  &  Marx  wrote  that  the  cost  of  selling  had 
been  cut  in  half  the  past  fifteen  years,  a  result  largely  brought 
about  through  advertising. 

The  California  Fruit  Exchange  in  one  year  marketed  33,082 
carloads  of  fruit  which  yielded  $54,600,000,  at  an  advertising 
cost  of  H  cent  a  dozen. 

When  the  Oneida  Community  began  to  advertise  in  a  modest 
way  in  1904  its  total  sales  were  $500,000.  At  the  end  of  twelve 
years  the  sales  had  been  increased  by  the  aid  of  advertising  to 
$4,000,000  in  the  face  of  a  nation-wide  competition  that  amounted 
almost  to  a  monopoly.  In  1915  the  selling  expense  was  3  per 
cent,  lower  than  the  average  during  the  four  previous  years. 


300  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

An  officer  of  the  Community  is  authority  for  the  statement  that 
"during  this  whole  period  of  rapid  expansion  production  cost 
rapidly  declined,  the  result  of  increased  turn-over  due  to  efficient 
advertising  coordinated  with  efficient  trade  salesmanship." 

A  Pittsburgh  preserving  concern  before  it  began  to  advertise 
had  a  marketing  cost  of  20  per  cent.  At  the  end  of  the  first 
year's  advertising,  which  involved  an  investment  of  $50,000,  the 
selling  expense  had  dropped  to  16  per  cent.  Although  the 
amount  spent  for  advertising  the  second  year  was  $100,000,  or 
twice  as  much  as  the  first  year,  the  marketing  cost  fell  to  12  per 
cent.  Because  of  the  saving  thus  effected  and  economies  in- 
troduced in  the  plant  the  price  of  its  products  to  the  con- 
sumer was  lowered  while  the  quality  was  greatly  improved. 

Advertising  Reduces  Production  Costs. — Advertising,  by  in- 
creasing the  demand,  speeds  up  the  factory  output.  In  order 
to  keep  pace  with  the  sales  more  and  more  goods  must  be  manu- 
factured. Most  plants  do  not  work  to  full  capacity  and  need 
the  stimulus  of  heavy  orders  to  reach  that  point.  Under  such 
pressure  production,  with  precisely  the  same  equipment,  has  in 
numerous  instances  been  increased  from  30  to  50  per  cent.  The 
effect  of  such  an  increase  when  overhead  expenses  remain  the 
same  is  to  reduce  materially  the  unit  cost  of  production. 

Again,  when  the  volume  of  sales  is  greatly  increased  the  manu- 
facturer can  buy  his  raw  material  in  large  quantities  and  at  lower 
prices  than  he  could  when  his  sales  were  restricted.  By  taking 
advantage  of  favorable  market  conditions  he  can  purchase  them 
at  a  cost  considerably  below  what  his  smaller  competitors  would 
have  to  pay. 

A  large  watch  manufacturer  in  discussing  the  effect  of  advertis- 
ing upon  the  selling  price  of  his  goods  said:  "As  a  result  of  our 
advertising  which  has  been  carried  on  for  over  40  years,  we  have 
been  able  to  so  increase  our  sales  and  our  production  capacity 
that  to-day  the  price  of  some  of  our  movements  is  $18.50  as 
compared  to  $67.50  about  four  years  ago." 

The  Genesee  Pure  Food  Company  for  a  number  of  years  in- 
vested $500,000  annually  in  advertising  Jell-O.  If  advertising  in- 
creases the  cost  of  the  goods  to  the  consumer  then  the  price  at  which 
they  are  sold  must  be  greater  than  it  was  before  the  advertising 


THE  ECONOMICS  OF  ADVERTISING  301 

started.  Such,  however,  was  not  the  fact  in  this  case,  as  the 
price  remained  the  same. 

Advertising  Expenditure. — The  public  has  an  exaggerated  idea 
regarding  the  relative  cost  of  advertising.  To  pay  $6,000  or 
$8,000  for  a  single-page  advertisement  in  one  issue  of  a  weekly  or 
monthly  magazine  seems  extravagant.  You  hear  people  say, 
"  How  can  the  advertiser  ever  hope  to  get  his  money  back  unless 
he  charges  more  for  his  goods  than  they  are  really  worth?" 
Those  who  take  this  view  of  the  matter  know  very  little  about 
advertising.  If  they  were  aware  that  the  payment  of  $6,000 
gave  the  advertiser  a  chance  to  lay  his  business  message  before 
millions  of  readers,  and  that  sales  amounting  to  $100,000  and 
even  $200,000  sometimes  follow  the  appearance  of  an  advertise- 
ment in  the  magazines,  they  might  change  their  minds. 

Alan  C.  Reiley,  when  president  of  the  Association  of  National 
Advertisers,  in  speaking  about  the  results  of  an  inquiry  made  by 
the  association  into  the  amounts  paid  for  advertising  by  leading 
concerns,  said: 

"The  advertising  of  one  of  the  leading  paint  manufacturers  of  the 
country  averages  3K  per  cent,  of  his  total  sales.  In  other  words,  for 
every  dollar's  worth  of  paint  he  sells  he  spends  3K  cents  in  advertis- 
ing. This  is  about  equivalent  to  the  price  of  a  postage  stamp  and  a 
cent's  worth  of  paper  for  every  dollar's  worth  of  goods  sold. 

"Of  two  of  the  biggest  clothing  manufacturers  in  the  country  one 
spends  IK  per  cent,  and  the  other  2  per  cent.  An  equally  prominent 
shoe  manufacturer  spends  IK  per  cent.  Of  two  of  the  most  famous 
automobile  builders  one  spends  2  per  cent.,  and  the  other,  3  per  cent. 
Figures  in  the  office  of  the  Association  of  National  Advertisers  show  that 
the  average  department  store's  advertising  does  not  cost  more  than  3 
per  cent,  of  its  total  business. 

"The  fact  is  that  the  great  majority  of  all  nationally  advertised 
articles — those  that  are  familiarly  known  in  every  home  in  the  country 
and  are  famous  for  their  quality  and  wide  distribution — belong  in  the  5 
per  cent,  or  under  class.  Even  if  the  advertising  represented  a  direct 
advance  on  what  the  buyer  would  otherwise  have  to  pay,  this  would 
make  little  difference  in  the  price  of  the  goods.  But  it  does  not,  be- 
cause advertising  is  the  most  efficient  method  of  marketing  ever  de- 
veloped by  business  enterprise — therefore  its  effect  is  to  decrease  and 
npt  to  increase  the  sum  total  of  selling  costs." 


302  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

In  an  article  that  appeared  in  Printers'  Ink,  October  19, 
1916,  the  writer  stated  that  an  investigation  made  that  year 
showed  that  the  average  expenditure  of  fifty-one  national  adver- 
tisers was  5.2  per  cent. 

While  the  advertising  investment  varies  in  different  businesses 
you  will  notice  from  the  foregoing  that  the  maximum  and  the 
minimum  percentages  are  not  far  apart.  Advertising,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  is  generally  employed  to  sell  merchandise, 
although  it  has  other  uses.  If  this  fact  is  constantly  kept  in 
mind  it  will  help  us  better  to  understand  the  part  it  plays  in  busi- 
ness economics. 

It  is  an  established  fact  that  goods  can  be  sold  at  far  less 
expense  through  advertising  than  through  salesmen.  Manu- 
facturers have  admitted  time  and  again  that  if  advertising  did 
not  materially  cut  down  the  cost  of  selling,  the  price  of  all  com- 
modities would  have  to  be  raised  to  much  more  than  it  is  at 
present.  There  should,  therefore,  be  no  doubt  in  your  mind  as 
to  the  truth  of  the  contention  that  the  tendency  of  advertising 
is  to  lower  the  cost  of  goods  to  the  consumer,  not  to  raise  it. 

Advertising  Stabilizes  Demand. — One  of  the  difficult  problems 
of  the  manufacturer  is  to  forecast  the  volume  of  sales  from  one 
to  three  years  ahead.  If  he  accumulates  too  large  a  reserve  stock 
of  his  product  he  loses  the  use  of  the  capital  represented  for  a 
longer  period  than  he  has  expected,  and,  if  pressed  for  money, 
may  be  compelled  to  sell  his  surplus  at  a  sacrifice.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  he  does  not  make  up  enough  goods  to  take  care  of  any 
reasonably  large  demand  that  may  develop  during  the  selling 
season  he  will  lose  that  much  business.  Moreover,  unless  he 
can  estimate  the  probable  volume  of  sales  fairly  accurately  he 
cannot  gauge  the  quantity  of  raw  materials  that  should  be  pur- 
chased for  future  production.  Prices  are  constantly  fluctuating. 
If  they  happen  to  be  high  the  manufacturer  will  buy  as  small  a 
supply  as  possible,  hoping,  of  course,  that  later  lower  prices 
will  prevail  and  that  he  can  then  secure  all  the  raw  material  he 
may  need. 

The  manufacturer  who  has  been  an  advertiser  for  any  length 
of  time  has  little  trouble  in  solving  these  problems  because  of 
the  stabilizing  influence  advertising  has  upon  demand.  The 


THE  ECONOMICS  OF  ADVERTISING  303 

fluctuations  in  sales  from  season  to  season  are  rarely  violent. 
He  can  tell  within  reasonable  limits  how  much  goods  the  market 
will  absorb  next  year  and  the  year  after.  His  estimate  will  be 
based  upon  the  sales  records  of  several  previous  years.  He 
knows  about  how  much  goods  will  be  sold  as  the  result  of  a 
certain  expenditure  for  advertising.  Because  the  public  likes  and 
buys  his  product  he  can  absolutely  bank  upon  the  extent  of  its 
support.  Therefore  he  makes  up  only  enough  stock  to  fill  a 
definite  number  of  orders  that  he  knows  will  be  received  and 
leave  a  sufficient  surplus  to  take  care  of  any  unexpected  demand 
that  may  be  developed. 

Effect  Upon  Competition. — The  advertiser  who  has  become 
entrenched  in  public  favor  through  well-planned  advertising 
campaigns  has  little  to  fear  from  competition,  providing,  of 
course,  he  maintains  the  same  quality  in  his  product  and  adheres 
to  the  same  business  standards. 

When  people  have  used  an  article  for  years  in  their  homes  and 
it  has  given  genuine  satisfaction  they  will  go  on  buying  it  no 
matter  how  many  others  of  a  similar  kind  may  be  placed  on  the 
market  by  rival  manufacturers,  especially  if  their  interest  is 
stimulated  now  and  then  by  advertising.  A  certain  kind  of 
loyalty  is  developed  toward  the  product — a  loyalty  that  keeps  the 
consumer  so  thoroughly  sold  that  he  cannot  easily  be  induced  to 
desert  it  for  a  newcomer. 

In  order  that  his  merchandise  shall  continue  worthy  of  the 
place  it  holds,  the  manufacturer  must  be  on  the  job  every  minute. 
He  must  keep  his  equipment  up-to-date;  must  see  that  there  is  no 
letting  down  in  quality  of  material  or  workmanship,  and  must 
carefully  watch  his  market.  If  he  falls  down  in  any  one  of  these 
particulars  advertising  won't  save  him  from  bankruptcy.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  is  alive  to  his  opportunities  and  does  not 
depend  too  much  upon  past  reputation,  he  will,  when  supported 
by  the  kind  of  advertising  that  begets  confidence,  occupy  an 
impregnable  position  from  which  he  cannot  easily  be  dislodged. 

Ivory  Soap,  Royal  Baking  Powder,  Singer  Sewing  Machines 
and  Gold  Medal  Flour  have  been  advertised  for  more  than 
two  generations  and  have  been  used  in  many  families  during 
that  entire  period.  There  is  little  probability  that  any  one  of 


304  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

these  articles  will  lose  its  popularity  through  the  competition  of 
new  products  so  long  as  its  quality  remains  unchanged  and  its 
prestige  is  maintained  through  advertising. 

Questions 

1.  Who  finally  pays  for  the  advertising? 

2.  Does  it  increase  the  cost  of  the  goods  to  the  consumer? 

3.  How  does  advertising  standardize  quality? 

4.  What  effect  does  it  have  upon  the  cost  of  marketing?     Give  examples. 

5.  Show  how  advertising  reduces  the  unit  cost  of  production. 

6.  What   is   the  average  advertising  investment  made  by  department 
stores? 

7.  How  does  advertising  stabilize  demand? 

8.  What  is  its  effect  upon  competition? 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 
ON  CORRECTING  PROOFS 

That  all  printed  matter  when  it  appears  in  final  form  should  be 
grammatically  and  typographically  correct  and  without  errors 
of  any  kind  is  self-evident.  In  advertisements  accuracy  is 
indispensable.  A  mistake  in  the  listing  of  a  price  may  cause  the 
loss  of  several  hundreds  and  perhaps  thousands  of  dollars  to  the 
advertiser. 

A  few  years  ago  a  New  York  department  store  sent  to  a  morn- 
ing newspaper  an  advertisement  announcing  a  special  sale  of 
women's  cloaks,  which  had  formerly  been  sold  at  $35,  at  $19. 
Through  a  compositor's  uncorrected  mistake  the  price  appeared 
in  the  paper  the  next  day  as  $9.  As  a  result  the  store  was 
beseiged  by  women  who  wanted  to  take  advantage  of  the  extra- 
ordinary bargain.  With  the  appearance  of  the  first  day's  shoppers 
the  store  managers  discovered  the  error  in  the  advertisement, 
but  knowing  that  any  statement  they  might  make  would  be 
regarded  with  suspicion  by  some  people,  and  that  to  refuse  to  sell 
the  garment  at  the  published  price  would  injure  the  store's 
reputation,  they  directed  the  clerks  to  dispose  of  the  cloaks  at 
$9,  although  each  one  sold  represented  a  loss  of  $10. 

In  all  printing  offices  proof-readers  are  employed  to  correct  the 
mistakes  made  by  the  compositor  in  setting  up  the  copy.  After 
an  article  has  been  put  into  type  in  a  newspaper  office  a  galley 
proof  is  pulled  which  is  sent  to  the  proof-reader.  A  galley  is  a 
long,  narrow  tray  made  of  brass  and  wood,  which  is  used  to  hold 
the  type  that  has  been  set  hi  column  form.  A  proof  is  taken 
by  pressing  a  strip  of  paper  down  upon  the  inked  surface  of  the  type 
either  by  means  of  a  piece  of  padded  hardwood  called  "a  plane, " 
which  is  struck  by  a  mallet,  or  by  the  pressure  of  the  roller  of  a 
printing  press.  All  printing-offices  are  equipped  with  a  galley- 
proof  press  which  consists  of  a  heavy  padded  iron  cylinder 
20  305 


306  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

resting  upon  the  outer  edges  of  a  long  narrow  metal  bed  in 
which  the  galley  and  type  are  placed.  After  the  type  has  been 
inked  a  strip  of  paper  is  placed  upon  its  surface  and  the  iron 
cylinder  is  rolled  over  it.  When  the  paper  is  pulled  from  the 
type  it  bears  an  impression  of  it.  Proofs  of  small  advertisements 
are  made  in  the  same  way. 

In  the  case  of  large  advertisements  such  as  newspaper  pages, 
half  pages  and  quarter  pages,  and  magazine  pages,  the  proofs  are 
pulled  from  the  type  as  it  stands  on  the  composing  stone,  which 
is  a  heavy  stone  with  a  perfectly  flat  surface,  the  plane  and  mallet 
being  employed  for  the  purpose.  This  is  the  quickest  way  of 
making  the  proof,  but  stone  proofs,  as  they  are  called,  are  not 
always  satisfactory,  especially  when  the  advertisements  contain 
halftones  or  other  illustrations,  because  they  do  not  show  up 
well.  For  this  reason  it  is  better  to  submit  to  the  advertiser 
press  proofs  that  show  type,  borders  and  cuts  with  great  clearness. 
Press  proofs  are  clear,  perfect  proofs  made  on  a  good  quality 
of  coated  or  enameled  paper  and  are  usually  taken  after  the 
corrections  and  changes  indicated  on  the  stone  proofs  have  been 
made. 

When  a  proof  is  received  by  the  proof-reader  he  goes  over  it 
very  carefully,  marking  on  the  type  and  the  margin  the  corrections 
that  are  to  be  made.  He  compares  the  copy  with  the  proof  to 
see  whether  the  compositor  has  omitted  any  words  or  phrases, 
or  has  misspelled  words,  or  has  set  the  matter  in  the  wrong  kind 
or  size  of  type,  etc.  Frequently  he  finds  mistakes  in  the  copy  that 
have  eluded  the  watchful  eye  of  the  editor  or  of  the  advertiser. 

A  first-class  proof-reader  is  worth  his  weight  in  gold  to  any 
representative  newspaper  or  magazine.  He  possesses  an  expert 
knowledge  of  the  printing  business,  knows  the  names  of  City, 
State  and  National  officials,  is  posted  on  politics,  science,  religion, 
commerce,  law,  and  a  dozen  other  subjects — in  fact,  he  is  an 
encyclopedia,  a  dictionary,  a  city  directory  and  a  reference  library 
all  in  one. 

After  the  proofs  have  been  read  and  the  corrections  made  a 
second  proof  is  taken.  It  is  this  proof  that  is  sent  to  the  adver- 
tiser. The  latter  goes  over  it  carefully  for  any  mistakes  that 
may  have  been  overlooked  by  the  proof-reader.  Sometimes  he 


ON  CORRECTING  PROOFS 


307 


finds  it  necessary  to  make  changes  in  the  advertisement  itself. 
If  there  are  no  errors  or  changes  he  writes  "O.  K."  on  the  proof 
and  signs  his  name  or  initials.  If  there  are  any  mistakes  or 
changes  he  marks  the  proof  "O.  K.  with  corrections."  The 
printer  can  then  go  ahead  with  the  job. 


(MARKED  P.ROOF) 


are 
One  of  the 


^  Inland  Prinjgr  prints  an 
omusing  letter  from  Mr.  T.  B. 
Aldrich  to  Prof.  E.  S.  Morse,  ex- 
president  of  t/fe  American  Academy 
for  tho  Advancement  of  Science. 
ProfTMorse^it*should  ^  bew  stated, 
has  a  handwriting  quite  indescrib- 
able.  yjMy  dear  Morse:  It  $#«  very 
pleasant  for  me  to  get  a.  letter  from 
you<ptheilth<3day.  PerhapsJ  should 
found  it  pleasanter  u  I  had 
been  able  to  decipher  ijf~I  donT 
think£l  mastered  anytlng  beyond 
the  date  (which  I  knew),  and  the 
sty/feature  (which  I  guessed  at).  *» 
There's  a  singujfar  and  perpetual  €% 
charm  in  a  letter  of  yours/  it  never 
grows  old;  it  never  losesits  novelty, 
f"5ne  cansay  to  oneVself  ever? 
morning  /""""There's  that  letter  of 
^torse's;  I  haven't  read  It  yet./- 1 
think  ril(sh^anotb.er(tak£at  it  to- 
day  and  maybe  I  shjvll  be  able,  in 
rse  of  a  few  ye/rs,  ttf  make 
\{Jat  he  means  by  those  Vff  that 
like  w's.  and  those  ig  tiiat 
't  any  (fyebrov>*£)  Other 
are  read^and  forgotten,  bu 
k«pt_  forever— unread, 
m/will  last  a  reasonable 
ine)  Admiringly  yours. 


( CORRECTED  PROOF) 


THE  INLAND  PRINTER  prints  an 
amusing  letter  from  Mr.  T.  B. 
Aldrich  to  Prof.  E.  S.  Morse,  ex- 
president  of  the  American  Academy 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science. 
Prof.  Morse,  it  should  be  stated, 
has  a  handwriting  quite  indescrib- 
able. "My  dear  Morse:  It  was  very 
pleasant  for  me  to  get  a  letter  from 
you  the  other  day.  Perhaps  I  should 
have  found  it  pleasanter  if  I  had 
been  able  to  decipher  it.  I  don't 
think  I  mastered  anything  beyond 
the  date  (which  I  knew),  and  the 
signature  (which  I  guessed  at). 
There's  a  singular  and  perpetual 
charm  in  a  letter  of  yours;  it  never 
grows  old;  it  never  loses  its  novelty. 
One  can  say  to  one's  self  every 
morning:  'There's  that  letter  of 
Morse's  ;  I  haven't  read  it  yet.  I 
think  I'll  take  another  shy  at  it  to* 
day  and  maybe  I  shall  be  able,  in 
the  course  of  a  few  years,  to  make 
out  what  he  means  by  those  t's  that 
look  like  w's,  and  those  1's  that 
haven't  any  eyebrows!'  Other  let- 
ters are  read  and  thrown  away  and 
forgotten,  but  yours  are  kept  for- 
ever— unread.  One  of  them  will 
last  a  reasonable  man  a  lifetime. 
Admiringly  yours,  T.  B.  Aldrich." 


Proof-readers'  marks  are  divided  into  two  classes:  those 
marked  in  the  body  of  the  type  to  show  the  exact  location  of  errors, 
and  those  written  on  the  margins  to  show  the  nature  of  the  cor- 
rections or  changes  that  are  to  be  made.  Every  mark  made  in 
the  type  must  have  a  corresponding  mark  on  the  margin  to 
catch  the  eye  of  the  compositor.  When  a  proof  contains  a  large 


308  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

number  of  errors,  necessitating  the  use  of  many  marks,  it  is  well  to 
draw  lines  from  the  marks  in  the  type  to  those  in  the  margin  to 
avoid  confusion. 

The  proof-readers'  marks  are  a  great  convenience  and  save  a 
lot  of  time  which  otherwise  would  have  to  be  devoted  to  writing 
out  in  detail  the  instructions  for  the  compositor.  It  is  important 
that  the  advertising  man  should  know  how  to  use  these  marks  in 
correcting  proofs. 

In  order  to  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  number  of  mistakes  that 
may  be  made  by  the  printer  you  should  furnish  him  plainly 
written  copy.  If  possible  have  it  typewritten.  Sometimes  the 
compositors  are  obliged  to  work  under  a  poor  light,  in  which 
case  they  have  trouble  in  making  out  what  the  advertising  man 
has  written.  Handwriting  is  more  difficult  to  read  even  when 
plainly  written  than  typewritten  copy.  Cut  and  chop  and  re- 
write your  copy  to  your  heart's  content  before  sending  it  to  the 
printer,  but  when  it  is  finally  in  his  hands  let  it  be  as  nearly 
right  as  you  can  possibly  make  it.  It  is  the  printer's  business  to 
follow  copy.  Hence  if  you  make  mistakes  and  they  are  repro- 
duced in  type  he  cannot  be  held  responsible  for  them.  In 
most  instances,  however,  when  the  printer  discovers  the  errors 
he  will  correct  them  on  the  proof  and  place  a  question  mark 
opposite  them  on  the  margin.  If  you  approve  of  the  corrections 
you  simply  cross  out  the  question  marks. 

All  changes  made  in  proofs  by  the  advertiser  that  are  not  due  to 
the  printer's  carelessness  are  known  as  author's  corrections,  and 
involve  an  extra  charge  to  the  advertiser,  the  amount  depending 
upon  the  length  of  time  involved  in  making  them. 

If  there  are  many  alterations  in  the  text  or  the  arrangement, 
the  expense  involved  is  considerable.  If  the  changes  are  not 
made  until  just  before  the  newspaper  or  magazine  goes  to  press 
the  incidental  delay  they  occasion  may  prevent  the  appearance 
of  the  advertisement  in  the  next  issue  of  the  publication.  If 
care  is  taken  in  making  the  changes  some  of  the  expense  can  be 
saved.  For  instance,  if  a  word  is  to  be  eliminated,  try  if  you 
can  to  add  another  word  containing  the  same  number  of  letters 
to  the  same  line  or  to  the  line  above  or  below,  so  as  to  avoid 
over-running  long  paragraphs.  Unless  this  is  done  it  may  take 


ON  CORRECTING  PROOFS  309 

the  compositor  half  an  hour  to  reset  a  long  paragraph  in  order 
to  insert  or  take  out  a  single  word. 

If  the  proof-reading  has  been  well  done  by  the  printer  you 
will  find  very  few,  if  any,  typographical  errors  hi  the  proof 
furnished  you.  The  one  thing  you  should  be  particular  about 
is  to  see  that  all  proper  names  are  correctly  spelled  and  that 
figures  are  correct.  When  you  have  any  instructions  to  give 
the  printer  do  not  trust  them  to  a  messenger  boy  but  write 
them  out. 

The  marks  used  by  printers  in  correcting  proofs  are  shown 
in  the  following  pages  (pp.  310-312). 


310  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

PROOF  MARKS 

f*  j 

**&4(d  tTr  -i.  Set  all  in  capital  letters 

O.  C.,  0*f*  -1         Set  in  small  capitals. 

Set  i**  capitals  and  small  capitals. 
Set  in  bold-faced  type. 


Set  in  italic. 

t  -  Set  in  bold-faced  capitals. 

W.T  Cafej,  ^:jrv^.         In  all  the  foregoing  examples,  the  Unes  should 
appear  under  the  words  to  be  capitalized,  itali- 
cized, etc. 
Bring  the  line  to  this  point. 

Square  up  the  Unes  at  this  margin. 
Straighten  the  line  or  lines. 


f*  cized,  etc. 


7\          Bring  matter  to  this  point. 

Carry  over  to  where  arrow  points. 

Spell  out  matter  hi  this  circle.     (This  mark  is 
used  frequently  around  abbreviations.) 

Period  circled  to  prevent  being  mistaken  for 

comma. 
Colon  encircled  to  prevent  being  mistaken  for 

semicolon. 

The  dele  mark,  meaning  to  "take  it  out." 
Make  a  paragraph  here. 

Don't  let  this  be  a  new  paragraph. 
Take  out  the  loading. 
Reduce  the  spacing 


ON  CORRECTING  PROOFS  31 1 

Set  this  a  size  smaller. 

Fix  this  broken  letter. 

Isn't  this  from  a  wrong  font? 

Take  out  the  thing  marked  and  close  up. 

Put  a  space  in  here. 

Put  a  lead  in  here. 

Make  it  a  part  of  body  matter  (more  often  used 
to  indicate  the  running  of  two  paragraphs 
together  as  one  paragraph). 

Turn  this  type  over;  it  is  upside  down. 

Transpose  the  position  of  the  matter  marked. 

Transpose  the  marked  matter  to  the  other  point 
where  the  star  occurs. 

Use  Roman  letter  here  instead  of  the  kind  you 

have. 

Correct  the  poor  spacing  at  the  points  marked. 
Means  reset  some  of  the  type  so  that  the  matter, 

through  respacing,  will  run  a  little  longer  and 

thus  make  a  better  end  to  a  paragraph. 
Means  run  the  syllable,  word,  or  line  back  to 

preceding  line  or  page. 

Means  end  of  manuscript  or  copy. 
Give  this  cut  a  half  circle  turn. 

Capital  letters  so  marked  are  to  be  reset  in  lower- 
case letters. 

A  marginal  instruction  to  restore  the  words  under 
which  the  dots  appear. 

Means  set  or  reset  the  words  in  the  order  indi- 
cated by  the  figures,  the  figures  being  placed 
in  copy  over  the  words  in  question. 

Means  that  the  printer  missed  something  and  is 
referred  back  to  copy. 


312  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

>/%  f  Means  "is  this  right?"  or  "is  this  arrangement  satis- 

U^U.  Iff  *  factory?" 

/y-^  ^  Another  way  of  questioning  correctness.     If  the  ques- 
*%  A     ^  tioned  item  or  the  suggestion  is  correct,  run  a  line 

%  through  the  question  mark,  but  don't  erase  it. 

V  Insert  apostrophe. 

A-        vf  Insert  quotation  marks. 

•^^  Join  the   letters   in  a  logotype  or  close  up  the  space 

/^  left  between  two  words. 

'    (J  Transpose  the  two  letters  or  words  marked. 

J/  Insert  comma. 

Insert  semicolon. 
Insert  hyphen. 

Insert  dash. 

Insert  narrow  or  n  dash. 


Insert  interrogation  mark. 

Insert  exclamation  mark. 

Raise  or  push  matter  up  to  here. 

J    Lower  matter  to  here. 

Indent  line  one  quad  of  size  of  type  used. 


L.  Push  down  lead  or  space  showing  on  proof. 

*\.  .  (?*»        Reset  in  lower-case  letters. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
BOOKS  ON  ADVERTISING  AND  SALESMANSHIP 

The  following  books  on  advertising  and  salesmanship  will 
be  found  helpful  to  both  teacher  and  student.  They  do  not 
include  all  that  have  been  published  on  these  subjects,  and  doubt- 
less some  have  been  omitted  that  deserve  a  place  among  them, 
but,  in  any  event,  the  books  named  have  received  the  approval 
of  representative  advertising  men.  Some  are  text  books  used  in 
teaching  advertising;  some  are  records  of  advertising  experiences; 
some  are  books  of  reference  and  some  deal  with  the  problems  of 
distribution. 

Students  who  intend  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  advertising 
business  should  begin  as  soon  as  possible  the  accumulation  of 
worth-while  books  on  advertising  and  allied  topics.  If  all  the 
different  books  on  advertising  that  have  been  published — good, 
bad  and  indifferent — should  be  brought  together  in  one  place 
the  number  would  not  be  large  or  impressive.  Out  of  them  it  is 
possible  to  select  a  comparatively  small  number  that  will  ade- 
quately cover  the  field. 

ADVERTISING 

Advertise!     By  E.  Sampson.     (D.  C.  Heath  &  Company,  New  York.) 

Ads  &  Sales.     By  Herbert  N.  Casson.     (McClurg.) 

Advertising  by  Motion  Pictures.  By  Ernest  A.  Dinch.  (Standard 
Publishing  Company.) 

Advertising  Selling  the  Consumer.  By  John  Lee  Mahin.  (Doubleday, 
Page  &  Company,  New  York.) 

Advertising  as  a  Business  Force.  By  Paul  T.  Cherrington.  (Doubleday, 
Page  &  Company,  New  York.) 

Advertising:  Its  Principles,  Practice  &  Technique.  By  Daniel  Starch. 
(Scott,  Foresman  &  Company,  New  York.) 

Advertising  the  Technical  Product.  By  Clifford  A.  Sloan  and  James  D. 
Mooney.  (McGraw  Hill  Book  Company,  Inc.,  New  York.) 

Advertising:  Its  Principles  &  Practice.  By  Harry  Tipper,  Harry  L. 

313 


314  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Hollingworth,  George  Burton  Hotchkiss  and  Frank  Alvah  Parsons.  (The 
Ronald  Press  Company,  New  York.) 

Advertising  &  Selling.  By  H.  L.  Hollingworth.  (D.  Appleton  & 
Company,  New  York.) 

Advertising.  The  Social  and  Economic  Problem.  By  George  French. 
(The  Ronald  Press  Company,  New  York.) 

Advertiser's  Hand  Book.  By  A.  M.  Stryker.  (Trade  Journal  Ad- 
vertiser, Chicago.) 

Advertiser's  Handbook.  By  S.  Roland  Hall.  (International  Text  Book 
Company,  Scranton,  Pa.) 

Advertising  and  Mental  Laws.  By  H.  F.  Adams.  (MacMillan  Com- 
pany, New  York.) 

Advertising  as  a  Vocation.  By  Frederick  J.  Allen.  (MacMillan  Com- 
pany, New  York.) 

Analytical  Advertising.  By  W.  A.  Shryer.  (Business  Service  Cor- 
poration, Detroit.) 

Art  and  Literature  of  Business.     By  Charles  Austin  Bates. 

Bank  Advertising  Plans.  By  T.  D.  MacGregor.  (Bankers'  Publishing 
Company.) 

Building  Your  Business  by  Mail.  By  W.  G.  Clifford.  (Business  Re- 
search Publicity  Company,  Chicago.) 

Business  of  Advertising.  By  Earnest  Elmo  Calkins.  (D.  Appleton  & 
Company,  New  York.) 

Business  Correspondence  Library.     (A.  W.  Shaw  Company,  Chicago.) 

Church  Publicity.  By  Christian  F.  Reisner.  (Methodist  Book  Concern, 
New  York.) 

Elementary  Laws  of  Advertising  and  How  to  Use  Them.  By  Henry  S. 
Bunting.  (Novelty  News  Company,  Chicago.) 

Effective  House  Organs.  By  Robert  E.  Ramsay.  (D.  Appleton  & 
Company,  New  York.) 

Forty  Years  an  Advertising  Agent.  By  George  P.  Rowell.  (Printers' 
Ink  Publishing  Company,  New  York.) 

Getting  the  Most  Out  of  Business.  By  E.  St.  Elmo  Lewis.  (The  Ronald 
Press  Company,  New  York.) 

Good  Will,  Trade  Marks  and  Unfair  Trading.  By  E.  S.  Rogers.  (A.  W. 
Shaw  Company,  Chicago.) 

How  to  Advertise.  By  George  French.  (Doubleday,  Page  &  Company, 
New  York.) 

How  to  Advertise  Printing.  By  Harry  M.  Bassford.  (Oswald  Publish- 
ing Company,  New  York.) 

How  to  Advertise  a  Retail  Store.  By  A.  E.  Edgar.  (Advertising  World, 
Columbus,  Ohio.) 

How  to  Write  Letters  that  Win.     (A.  W.  Shaw  Company,  Chicago.) 

Law  of  Advertising  and  Sales.  2  Volumes.  By  Clowry  Chapman. 
(Published  by  the  author.) 


BOOKS  ON  ADVERTISING  AND  SALESMANSHIP        315 

Library  of  Sales  and  Advertising.  4  Volumes.  By  Editorial  Staff  of 
System.  (A.  W.  Shaw  Company,  Chicago  and  New  York.) 

Library  of  Advertising.  6  Volumes.  By  A.  P.  Johnson.  (Cree  Publish- 
ing Company,  Chicago.) 

Making  Advertisements.  By  Roy  S.  Durstine.  (Charles  Scribner's  Sons, 
New  York.) 

Making  Type  Work.  By  Benjamin  Sherbow.  (Century  Company, 
New  York.) 

Making  Letters  Pay  System.     (Making  It  Pay  Corporation,  New  York.) 

Newspaper  Advertising.  By  G.  H.  E.  Hawkins.  (Advertising  Pub- 
lishing Company,  Chicago.) 

One  Hundred  Advertising  Talks.  By  William  C.  Freeman.  (Published 
by  the  author.) 

Patents,  Copyrights  and  Trademarks.  By  W.  H.  Elfreth.  (Baker 
Voorhis  &  Company,  New  York.) 

Posters.     By  Charles  Matlock  Price.     (George  W.  Bricka,  New   York.) 

Publicity.  An  Encyclopedia  of  Advertising  and  Printing  by  N.  C. 
Fowler,  Jr. 

Principles  and  Practice  of  Advertising.  By  Gerald  B.  Wadsworth. 
(Gerald  B.  Wadsworth,  New  York.) 

Principles  of  Practical  Publicity.  By  Truman  A.  DeWeese.  (George  W. 
Jacobs  &  Company.) 

Principles  of  Advertising  Arrangement.  By  Frank  A.  Parsons.  (Prang 
Educational  Company,  New  York.) 

Productive  Advertising.  By  Herbert  W.  Hess.  (J.  B.  Lippincott  Com- 
pany, Philadelphia.) 

Psychology  of  Advertising.  By  Walter  Dill  Scott.  (Small  Maynard  & 
Company,  Boston.) 

Publicity  and  Progress.  By  Herbert  Heebner  Smith.  (George  H. 
Doran  Company,  New  York.) 

Specialty  Advertising.  By  Henry  S.  Bunting.  (Novelty  News  Com- 
pany, Chicago.) 

Sherbow's  Type  Charts.  4  Volumes.  By  Benjamin  Sherbow.  (Pub- 
lished by  the  author.) 

Success  in  Letter  Writing.     By  Sherman  Cody. 

Successful  Retail  Advertising.  By  J.  A.  MacDonald.  (The  Drygoods 
Reporter  Company,  Chicago.) 

The  House  Organ.  How  to  Make  it  Produce  Results.  By  George 
Frederick  Wilson.  (Washington  Park  Publishing  Company,  Milwaukee.) 

The  New  Business.  By  Harry  Tipper.  (Doubleday,  Page  &  Company, 
New  York.) 

Theory  and  Practice  of  Advertising.  By  G.  W.  Wagenseller.  (Pub- 
lished by  the  author.) 

Typography  of  Advertisements  that  Pay.  By  Gilbert  P.  Farrar.  (D. 
Appleton  &  Company,  New  York.) 


316  ESSENTIALS  OF  ADVERTISING 

Typography  of  Advertising.  By  F.  J.  Trezise.  (Inland  Printer  Com- 
pany, Chicago.) 

What  an  Advertiser  Should  Know.  By  Henry  C.  Taylor.  (Browne  & 
Ho  well  Company,  Chicago.) 

Writing  an  Advertisement.  By  S.  Roland  Hall.  (Houghton  Mifflin 
Company,  Boston.) 

SALESMANSHIP 

Business  Profits  and  Human  Nature.  By  Fred  C.  Kelly.  (G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons,  New  York.) 

Manual  of  Successful  Storekeeping.  By  W.  R.  Hotchkin.  (Doubleday, 
Page  &  Company,  New  York.) 

Modern  Sales  Management.  By  J.  George  Frederick.  (D.  Appleton  & 
Company,  New  York.) 

Psychology  of  Salesmanship.  By  William  W.  Atkinson.  (Elizabeth 
Towne  &  Company.) 

Psychology  of  Salesmanship.  By  George  R.  Eastman.  (Service 
Publishing  Company.) 

Retail  Selling  and  Store  Management.  By  Paul  H.  Nystrom.  (D. 
Appleton  &  Company,  New  York.) 

Sales  Promotion  by  Mail.  By  Burdock,  Wallen,  Eytinge,  Adams  and 
Others.  (G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New  York.) 

Selling  Advertising  Space.  By  Joseph  E.  Chasnoff .  (The  Ronald  Press, 
New  York.) 

Scientific  Sales  Management.  By  Charles  Wilson  Hoyt.  (George  B. 
Woolson  &  Company,  New  Haven,  Conn.) 

Scientific  Distribution.  By  Charles  Frederick  Higham.  (Nesbit  & 
Company,  Ltd.,  London.) 


INDEX 


Advertising,  ancient  use  of,  1 
ancient  specimens  of,  2 
an  intensive  form  of  salesman- 
ship, 6 

books  on,  313,  314,  315 
classification  of,  8 
cost  of  (examples),  301 
definition  of,  1 
direct  by  mail,  187-194 
does  it  increase  cost  of  mer- 
chandise to  consumer?,  299 
effects  of,  upon  competition,  303 
examples   of  successful  adver- 
tising, 5,  6 
foreign,  defined,  254 
how  expressed,  1 
how  it  has  helped  humanity,  4 
local,  defined,  8 
magazine,  3,  144-155 
mediums  employed,  3 
national,  defined,  9 
newspaper,  132-143 
outdoor,  165-177 
principal  objects  of,  6,  7 
reduces  cost  of  marketing,  299 
reduces  production  cost,  300 
stabilizes  demand,  302 
standardizes  quality,  298-299 
three  essentials  of  good,  105 
value  of  color  in,  77 
who  pays  for,  298 
Advertising  agent,  his  hardest  task, 

267 

his  relation  to  the  client,  260 
how  he  serves  the  advertiser, 

261,  265 
how  paid,  265 
qualifications  of,  260 
represents  the  advertiser,  266 


Advertising    agencies,    amount    of 

business  handled  by,  259 
associations  of,  268 
organization  of,  264 
trade  investigations  made  by, 

262 
value  of  recognition  of,  by  the 

A.  N.  P.  A.,  260 
Advertising    campaigns,    analyzing 

results  of,  105 
buying  space  for,  93,  94 
classification  of,  90 
copy  suggestions  concerning,  95, 

96 

how  planned,  90,  91 
how  to  handle  inquiries,  109-110 
mediums  employed,  102 
Manly  M.  Gillam's  experience 

in,  105 

persistency  in,  a  necessity,  106 
selecting  the  mediums,  92,  93, 

94,  101,  102 
should  they  precede  or  follow 

distribution?,  98 
size  of  appropriations,  113 
use  of  coupons,  109 
what  some  advertisers  invest  in, 

100 

when  to  advertise,  94 
Advertising  manager,  duties  of  the, 

249-257 
how   a   card   index   helps  the, 

255 

of  a  department  store,  249 
of  a  manufacturer,  250,  251 
of  a  newspaper,  254-256 
of  a  publication,  254 
qualifications  of,  253 
Advertisement,    the,   advantage  of 

rectangular  space,  15 


317 


318 


INDEX 


Advertisement,    Brisbane's    experi- 
ence in  writing  an,  8 
construction  of,  22 
first  in  America,  2 
first  one  printed,  2 
four  parts  of,  23 
layout  of  an,  13,  14 
preparation  for  writing  an,  8-12 
size  of,  how  determined,  14 
the  golden  proportion,  15 

Advertising  salesman,  by  whom  em- 
ployed, 277 

best  time  for  interviews,  284 
his  use  of  mailing  cards,  191 
how  color  helps  him,  80 
knowledge  of  copy  writing  help- 
ful to,  283 
practical   suggestions   to,    279, 

280 

problems  of,  277-278 
qualifications  of,  272-275 
W.  C.  Freeman's  experience,  275 
what  he  sells,  272 

Appropriation,  size  of,  113 

Association  of  National  Advertisers, 
114 


Balance,  in  advertisement  construc- 
tion, 15 

Booklets,  cost  of,  219 
description  of,  218 
hints  on  preparing,  218 
illustrations  for,  222 
selecting  the  paper  for,  220 
sizes  of,  219 

type  arrangement  of,  220 
value  of  in  advertising,  191 

Borders,  purposes  they  serve,  22,  69 
ornamental,  71 
sizes  and  styles  of,  70 

Broadsides,  use  of,  191 

Bulletins,  advantages  of  painted,  173 
cost  of  painted,  172 
painted,  distribution  of,  172 


Bulletins,  paper,  191 
size  of  painted,  173 


Card  index,  how  it  helps  the  adver- 
tising manager,  255 
Catalogs,  as  silent  salesmen,  209 

best  type  faces  for,  213 

binding  of,  214 

built  on  a  plan,  210 

cover  papers  for,  212 

cuts  and  illustrations  for,  214, 
216 

distribution  of,  215 

export,  preparation  of,  215,  216 

importance  of,  208 

should     reflect     character     of 
house,  208 

standard  sizes  of,  211 

the  introduction,  210,  211 

three  kinds  of,  209 
Circulations,  Audit  Bureau  of,  279 

analysis  of  magazine,  151 

how  determined,  279 
Color,  as  an  aid  to  salesmen,  80 

Calkins  on  the  use  of,  79 

different  kinds  of,  88 

effectiveness  of,  78,  79 

effect  upon  women,  87 

experience  of  mail  order  houses 
with,  78 

helps  the  manufacturer,  87 

processes  employed  in  printing, 
89 

technical  detail  on,  87 

the  three  fundamental  colors,  87 

uses  of,  77,  80 
Colored  inserts,  78 
Comparative  prices,  objections  to, 

34 
Copy,  adapted  to  audience,  108 

characteristics  of  successful  re- 
tail, 118,  119 

directions  for  preparing,  31-34 

educational,  28 


INDEX 


319 


Copy,  four  kinds  of,  27 

good  will,  28 

human  interest,  32 

importance  of  truth  in,  33 

institutional,  28 

letter  writing,  195,  199,  201 

news  element  in,  251 

preparation  of  street  car,  180- 
182 

relative  value  of  large  and  small 
space,  114 

selling,  27 

story  of  Scott's  Emulsion,  108 

variety  essential  in,  106 

why  quote  prices  in,  32 
Coupons.     Use  of  in  campaigns,  109 


Direct  advertising,   advantages  of, 

187,  188 

amount  invested  in,  187 
confidential  character  of,  187 
definition  of,  187 
economical  value  of,  188 
mailing  list,  189 
mediums  employed  in,  188 
results  obtained  from,  188,  189 
should  produce  re-orders,  194 
suggestions  regarding,  193 
value  of  follow-up,  192 

Display,  contrast  in,  68 
definition  of,  68 
elements  of,  67 
kinds  of  type  used  in,  55 
value  of  white  space,  68 

Distribution,  analysis  of,  11 


E 


Electrical  displays,  copy  suggestions, 

177 

cost  of,  176 
locations  for,  177 
notable  examples  of,  174,  175 
popularity  of,  173 


Electrical  displays,  slogan  signs,  176 
Wrigley's  $90,000  display,  176 


F 


Folders,  advantages  of,  222 
results  obtained  from,  223 

G 

Golden  proportion,  the,  15 


Headlines,  different  kinds  of,  25 

news  interest  in,  26 

sometimes  omitted,  23 

why  used,  22,  23,  25 
House  organs,  as  advertising  medi- 
ums, 228 

by  whom  published,  226 

classification  of,  225 

definition  of,  225 

number  issued,  225 

outside  advertising  in,  230 

popular  sizes,  226 

purpose  of,  226 

results  from  use  of,  228 


Illustrations  for  booklets,  222 
general  use  of,  36 
good  art  work  essential,  43,  44 
half  tones,  51 
humorous,  44 
line  engravings,  52 
making  cuts  for,  48,  53 
Omega  oil's  experience  with,  48 
pretty  girl  pictures,  43 
Rock  of  Gibraltar,  47 
use  of  advertiser's  portraits,  47 
use  of  photography  in  making, 

48 

vignettes,  53 
wash  drawings,  52 
why  employed,  36,  37,  38 


320 


INDEX 


Layout,  the,  an  advertiser's  experi- 
ence with,  17 

arrangement  of,  17 

how  to  prepare,  15,  16,  17 

purposes  of,  13 

specimen  of,  18 

type  and  borders,  16 

what  it  shows,  13 
Letters,  business  getting,  195-207 

enclosures  in,  206 

follow  up,  203 

form,  how  to  prepare,  204 

length  of,  196,  198 

postage  on,  204,  205 

reproduction  processes,  195 

Schulze's  plan  for,  199 

signatures,  206 

specimens  of,  195,  203 

suggestions  about  writing,  195, 
199,  201 


M 


Magazines,  buying  space  in,  93,  94 

circulation  analysis  of,  151 

function  of,  145 

furnish  a  stable  market,  146 

help  the  dealer,  150 

place  in  the  home,  145 

protect  readers,  146 

selection  of  for  campaigns,  93 

service  departments  of,  150 

three  classes  of,  144 
Magazine    advertising,    advantages 
of,  92,  145-149 

life  of,  151 

physical  advantages  of,  149 

reader  confidence  in,  146 

results  obtained  from,  151 
Mailing  cards,  description  of,  191, 192 

as  aids  to  salesmen,  191 
Mail  order  advertising,  definition  of, 
188 

mailing  list,  189 


Mail    order    advertising,    mediums 
employed  in,  188 

principal  object  of,  192 

users  of,  189 
Market,  analysis  of,  10 
Mediums,  lists  of,  3 

classes  of,  3 

selection  of,  92 

Merchandising     service     of     news- 
papers, 257 

of  magazines,  150 

Motion  picture  advertising,  advan- 
tages of,  242,  243 

campaigns,  how  handled,   246, 
247 

characteristics  of,  245 

construction  of,  244 

cost  of,  248 

examples  of,  245 

general  appeal  of,  241 

sells  goods  in  South  America,  243 

tracing  results,  247 

N 

National    advertiser,    problems    of, 

100-115 

should  help  the  dealer,  96 
Newspapers,  cost  of,  132,  133 
distribution  of,  92 
first  American,  2 
first  English,  2 
first  printed,  2 
how    to    determine   worth   of, 

142,  143 

Lawson's  investment  in,  141 
preparing  a  list  of,  93,  142 
responsiveness  of  readers  of,  142 
Newspaper  advertising,  advantages 

of,  92,  132,  142 
Douglas'  tribute  to,  138 
flexibility  of,  141 
increases  profits,  140 
influence  of  on  legislation,  134 
Postum  results  from,  136 
produces  quick  action,  133,  134, 

136 


INDEX 


321 


Newspaper  advertising,  promptness 

of  reader  response,  142 
Red  Cross'  experience  with,  141 
timeliness  of,  133 


O 


Outdoor    advertising,    ancient    ex- 
amples of,  165 

three  most  popular  forms  of,  166 
Outdoor  signs,  materials  employed, 

238 

by  whom  used,  238 
electrical,  176-177 


Posters,  advantages  of,  169 
by  whom  employed,  169 
character  of,  169 
cost  of  posting,  171 
cost  of  printing,  171 
earliest  users  of,  166 
mechanical  details  of,  170 
popular  with  circuses,  166 

Product,  analysis  of,  9 

R 

Retail  advertising,  adapting  copy  to 

audience,  121 
bringing  people  to    the   store, 

116,  117,  118 
card  index  helps  in,  130 
copy  that  pulls,  118,  119,  120 
definition  of,  116 
interesting  clerks  in,  125 
magazines  in,  150 
preparation  for  writing,  11,  12 
size  of  territory,  116 
what  to  avoid,  120,  124 
window  displays,  127 

3 

Sale,  four  elements  of  a,  276 
closing  a,  281-282 
21 


Salesmanship,  definition  of,  277 

list  of  books  on,  316 
Special  agent,  duties  of,  270 

how  paid,  269,  270 

origin  of,  269 

represents  newspapers,  269 

represents  the  publisher,  271 
Specialties,   annual  investment   in, 
233 

as  sales  producers,  237 

banks  use  of,  237 

character  of  their  appeal,  234 

create  good  will,  235 

how  distributed,  238 

list  of,  236,  237,  239 

National  Association  of  Manu- 
facturers of,  233 

psychology  of,  234 

should  be  useful,  234 

sold  by  advertisers,  238 
Street  car  advertising,  advantages 
of,  179,  180 

advertisers'     experience     with, 
185 

compels  attention,  178 

cost  of,  183,  184 

cost  of  car  cards,  183 

Dobb's  tribute  to,  185 

making  contracts  for,  184 

size  of  cards  used  in,  180 

when  to  change  cards,  183 


Trade  and  class  publications,  agri- 
cultural press,  159 

advantages  of,  157 

advertising  revenue  from,  156 

appeal  of  religious  papers,  162 

buying  power  of  farmers,  160, 
161 

selective  character  of,  156 

when  to  use,  102 

why  they  produce  results,  157 
Trade  marks,  benefit  the  dealer,  296 

coined  words  in,  292 


322  INDEX 

Trade  marks,  composition  of,  287  Type,  kinds  used  in  advertising,  55 
cost  of  registration,  294  leaded  or  solid,  69 

definition  of,  286  measurement  of,  64 

names  to  avoid,  291  point  system  of  measurement,  64 

pictorial,  290  sizes,  how  indicated,  63 

registration  of,  292  what  it  expresses,  62 

registration  of  abroad,  294  words  to  square  inch,  76 

suggestions  regarding,  292 
symbol,  290 

unregisterable,  295  Window    displays,    advantages    of, 
uses  of,  286,  287  127 

well  known,  288  electric  light,  239 

Truth  in  advertising,  importance  of,  in  retail  advertising,  129 

33,  34  mechanical  devices,  239 

how  promoted  by  the  A.  A.  C.  Window    envelopes,    economy    of, 
W.,  35  205 

Type,  colors,  69  when  to  use,  205 


THE 

tfNTVERSITY  OF 

LOS  ANGELES 


A     000  058  657    8 


